India hope to stay afloat in the series

Their high-flying balloon of Twenty20 success pricked by Australia's back-to-back wins, India go into the fourth cricket one-dayer faced with the herculean task of winning four matches in a row to clinch the series.

The task at hands seems all the more difficult with the Indians failing to get big partnerships and the bowlers lacking sting and direction against the formidable Australian who have piled on over 900 runs in three matches so far.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's and his men, trailing 2-0 in the series, have no option but to pull up their socks and try to stop the Australian juggernaut to keep themselves afloat in the series.

While a victory at the Sector 16 Stadium, hosting an ODI after 14 years, would make the Aussies unbeatable in the series, which has been reduced to six-match series.

India's batting has been the biggest let down in the series with the lone exception of Yuvraj Singh. The opening pair of Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar has yielded 1, 11 and 10 runs in the series so far.

A brittle middle order sandwiched between a rickety top and an a docile tail with hardly any sting in it, the hosts are yet to last full 50 overs in the series and that pretty much sums up their plight.

Tendulkar has been a pale shadow of himself and his best show so far, the 71-ball 43 at Hyderabad, surely had the effort but not the effervescence that has been his hallmark.