India v Australia: Cricket World Cup 2019 – live!

Pat Cummins will open the bowling for Australia. Rohit Sharma on strike for India.

Ian Gould and Chris Gaffaney are your umpires. Nigel Llong is watching on TV.

Here we go!

Anthem time at the Oval. A chance for me to ask, is this the best ever World Cup for kits? Cut, colours, design, they all seem spot on this year. Makes for a nice change.

India winning the toss and batting first means of course that the drama over MS Dhoni’s gloves will have to wait a few hours.

The discussion about bowlers – net bowlers in particular – requiring protection has sparked some debate. We’ll feed that through the OBO throughout the day.

Gary’s identification of T20 crowds being at risk is also a valid point to raise.

Like an underground MC, I am here for the shout-outs, like this one from Jerry Sharpe. “A big shout-out for my life-long friend Mr Clive Osmond who will be delivering the ICC Trophy to the field before todays match. So pleased for him and know he’s proud and honoured to have been selected.” Onya Clive.

“I saw an ominous smirk creep out the side of Virat Kohli’s face as he pondered the bright sunshine and called batting a ‘no brainer’,” emails the mysteriously named Yum (presumably an Australian fan).

Yes, Kohli did look like the cat that found a swimming pool full of cream, but then the CricViz boffins have just informed us that Australia haven’t lost a World Cup chase since 1999!

Australia’s return to ominous form has coincided with Mitchell Starc relocating his mojo. The star of the 2015 World Cup is one of the greatest ODI bowlers in history (currently top of the tree for average and strike-rate for bowlers with 150+ wickets) but inconsistency has plagued the left-arm quick in recent seasons. With the help of Andre Adams, Starc is on his way back to his best.

India are also unchanged. That fearsome top three against Australia’s rapid new ball attack promises to be thrilling.

India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Australia are unchanged, which means still no place for Nathan Lyon on a surface that looks like it could favour the GOAT.

Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.

Virat Kohli is delighted to have first use of a dry Oval pitch. The Indian skipper thinks the deck will be hard and full of runs early and offer turn and variable bounce later.

Aaron Finch admits he would have batted first also, concerned by how dry the pitch is and how that might affect playing conditions later.

As expected, both sides have named unchanged XIs.

Australia’s preparations for today’s game were disrupted when David Warner struck a drive that hit one of his team’s net bowlers in the head. The bowler, Jaykishan Plaha, was taken to hospital as a precaution in an incident that left Warner “shaken up”.

I’m surprised (and relieved) we don’t have more of these incidents in the modern game where power hitting is reaching Marvel superhero levels and bowling – especially net bowling – is little more than cannon fodder. At club level I’ve flinched many a time when my Angus Fraser-lites have fizzed back towards me with interest and I’ve never gone near a net with someone like Warner and his Kaboom at the other end of it.

Helmets are now commonplace for umpires in limited overs matches and forearm shields are even used on occasion, but bowlers remain unprotected. The primacy of self preservation surely means it can’t be too long before precautions are taken as standard, while the workplace health and safety requirements of venues may end up compelling changes whether players like them or not.

I just wonder if we’ve been taking something for granted because that’s how it’s always been and there hasn’t yet been the serious incident to force a rethink when a risk assessment would raise a pretty obvious red flag? That said, Luke Fletcher did miss half a season for Notts a couple of years ago after a nasty incident.

What do you all think?

Yesterday’s action saw New Zealand and England complete the comprehensive victories expected of them. The Black Caps are the first team to three wins and remain on course for the semi-finals, while the form of Jason Roy and Jofra Archer restored the optimism of home fans following the upset defeat to Pakistan. However, the discomfort in Jos Buttler’s hip that prevented one of the stars of the tournament from keeping wicket will be of some concern.

Here’s your track. It’s a used pitch but is it dry enough to force either side to shuffle their packs? Early suggestions from the ground are that both teams will name unchanged XIs.

A little diversion before we focus on the task in hand. Congratulations French Open champion Ash Barty on becoming the fifth first-class cricketer to win a tennis Grand Slam title and the first in 106 years.

The 23-year old’s story is really something. A junior tennis prodigy Barty gave the game up to play cricket a few years ago, competing for the Heat in the 2015-16 WBBL. Since her return to the WTA Tour she has blossomed, culminating in her incredible achievement at Roland Garros.

Some good news to begin with – it’s dry in London!

Following the washout in Bristol earlier this week there have been some nervous glances skywards in anticipation of this blockbuster but the Oval should be dry all day. It’s not going to be hot with a blustery southerly keeping temperatures in the high teens.