India v Australia: Cricket World Cup 2023 – live

The team that has batted first has won seven of the past nine ODIs at Chennai.

Meanwhile, in South Australia, Jake Fraser-McGurk has done a thing – a bad bad thing.

Today’s umpires are Chris Gaffaney (NZ) and Richard Kettleborough (Eng). Chris Brown (NZ) is watching the TV replays. They will have their work cut out on a turning pitch in baking heat in front of a passionate home crowd.

Today’s venue is the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium – AKA Chepauk Stadium – in Chennai. Capacity is 38,000.

Curiously, India’s ODI record here (seven wins, five defeats) isn’t that great. Australia have won four out of five at the ground, including their last visit in March when Adam Zampa starred. The tourists have already won World Cup matches here in 1987 and 1996.

Today is the first time we will see the tournament favourites - in the eyes of The Guardian’s cricket experts.

This World Cup has faced criticism early on for its empty stands and low-key build-up. The hosts against the most formidable opponents in tournament history should give things a jump start.

This is match five of the 2023 World Cup, but you may only just be tuning in. If you have any questions about the event, Simon Burnton and Rob Smyth have you covered.

Speaking of Geoff, here’s the cat in a hat.

Geoff Lemon is on top of all things Australia, who arrive at the World Cup with a squad chock full of experience.

Seven of the likely best XI at this year’s tournament were in the 2015 World Cup squad: David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood played in the winning final while Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins got medals from the bench. Throw in Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green and Alex Carey after Travis Head returns from injury and you could have a team with 10 Test players from this year’s Ashes. England, by contrast, have a maximum of six.

Of the rest, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa started their own international careers within a year of that 2015 World Cup and have been fixtures since. The only players who are anywhere close to new, Sean Abbott and Josh Inglis, are 31 and 28 years old respectively and have played mountains of domestic cricket. It is a squad well seasoned to the point of becoming jerky.

Anand Vasu sets the scene from the hosts’ perspective, lasering in on Virat Kohli ahead of what is likely to be his final 50-over World Cup.

Kohli will know that his country and the world are not looking at his batting alone. He may deliver a bucketload of runs and India could still fall short. On the field, Kohli likes to believe that he leads India, even when he is not captain. He admonishes fielders, gets under the skin of opposition batters and even draws the ire of umpires and match referees.

This is because Kohli believes any team he plays for is essentially his. It is for this reason that this World Cup will be a tour of Kohli’s glories, as India play nine opponents in nine venues across the country.

Hello everybody and welcome to live OBO coverage of match five of the 2023 Cricket World Cup. India vs Australia will get underway in Chennai at 2pm local time (7.30pm AEDT/9.30am BST).

With apologies to the entire country of New Zealand and the individual brilliance of Aidan Markram, this should be when the tournament comes alive.

It’s the hosts against the World Cup’s dominant force; No 1 vs No 3 on the ICC ODI rankings; the two 2023 ICC Test World Championship finalists; Kohli and Rohit vs Maxwell and Starc. Everywhere you choose to look there’s a superstar and a narrative.

These are familiar foes with the pair having just completed a three-match ODI series, one that ended with India 2-1 victors. There were runs for Shubman Gill and David Warner, wickets for Mohammed Shami and Glenn Maxwell, and by the end of the series a much clearer sense that both these sides should, as ever, be contenders for the biggest prize in the 50-over format.

So settle in while I steer you through the pregame and first innings, with Adam Collins taking over to the end of play.

If you’d like to get in touch while I’m on, please fire all communication to jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com.