Gilchrist and Hayden to return - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Gilchrist and Hayden to return

By Adam Cooper 11/11/2003 05:50:31 AM Comments (0)

Australian openers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden should return for Wednesday's tri-series day-night cricket match against India in Bangalore.

Gilchrist and Hayden were rested in Sunday's win over New Zealand in Guwahati - the first time in almost two years the dynamic bats missed the same one-day clash.

Australia showed it could cover the absence of both stars, beating New Zealand by 44 runs to record its sixth straight win over its trans-Tasman rival and the third this series.

Australia is likely to field a full-strength side for its last pool match before the November 18 final in Calcutta to gain a good hit-out before the decider at Eden Gardens.

"We'd probably like to get back to a reasonably strong side for the next game, we don't want to be changing things around too much leading into a final," Australian captain Ricky Ponting said.

"We'll have to see how the guys pulled up today, I don't think there was any injury worries (from Guwahati) but yeah, we'll probably be fielding a pretty strong side next game."

Paceman Brad Williams, who was also rested against the Black Caps, will come in for consideration but Ponting admitted Australia had some selection headaches.

"We always have selection problems in this side because the guys that you bring in when you're resting some players generally perform pretty well, so it makes the selection quite tough," he said.

Bowlers Brad Hogg (2-29) and Michael Kasprowicz (1-28) performed well in their recall to the side, along with back-up keeper Jimmy Maher (two catches).

India is also expected to bolster its side for Bangalore, with captain Sourav Ganguly likely to play his first match of the series after overcoming an abscess on his thigh.

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

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