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With a defeat under each of Australia and West Indies’ belts, the teams meet on Friday in the World T20 knowing that another loss here will seriously hinder their chances of making it to the semi-finals. The live blog of this game will start at 8.30pm AEDT and you can follow all the action here.
Australia have had a good four days to reflect on how they went against Pakistan. They have some thinking to do, that’s for sure.
They looked quite rusty in their tournament opener, which was a bit of a surprise given that they were coming off a couple of T20Is in South Africa and a few limited-overs matches back home against England.
What looked like the potential cause of the problem, in both batting and bowling, was adapting to the conditions in Dhaka. Unlike in Australia and in South Africa, the tracks in Bangladesh are slower and lack bounce, thereby adding to the pace bowlers’ travails.
That was exactly the case against Pakistan. What added to their woes was the bowling of Brad Hogg, their lone frontline spinner in the game, who went for 29 in the three overs he was allowed.
It could lead to the expulsion of Hogg and the selection of James Faulkner, but that would mean the side will be left without a spinner. They do have Glenn Maxwell, who curiously did not bowl a single over in the Pakistan game.
The other area of concern for Australia will be the way they batted in their chase once Maxwell was dismissed. None of the others, bar Aaron Finch, got into double-figures. They went down easily once Finch’s scratchy half-century was ended.
The defending champion West Indies started off poorly against India but came roaring back in their next one against Bangladesh.
Dwayne Smith compensated for the surprising lack of initiative that Chris Gayle showed at the other end and propelled their score to 171 in the 20 overs before Samuel Badree ran through the hosts.
Bangladesh were allowed to muster up only 98 which not only gave West Indies a couple of points but also upped their net run-rate to +1.75. This being the case, a win here for them will be a huge fillip to their chances of going through.
That said the over-reliance on the top two could be a bit of an issue against a bowling attack that may have been rusty in their opener but definitely not without penetration.
After a couple of attempts at solidity over flamboyance, Gayle may need to change tack and look to take more risks. Then there’s Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo and Lendl Simmons, all of whom will also need a push-on when they get to the crease.
There could be one change to the line-up if Denesh Ramdin does not recover sufficiently from his finger injury he suffered in the Bangladesh game. Johnson Charles, a batsman who has played in 21 previous T20Is and also featured in many of them as an opener, could be brought in his place.
How the Australia batsmen play the West Indian spinners, Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine could be a clinching factor in which way the game goes. It’s an afternoon match, which means that there won’t be too much of a worry of dew for the slower bowlers either, making it slightly tougher for the Australian batsmen.
Join me for this World T20 2014 game between Australia and West Indies on Friday and you can follow the live score of this game from 8.30 pm local time and post your comments below.
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