Australia and West Indies are unusual equals

Shane Watson has excelled with bat and ball

As unbelievable as it may sound, there are more similarities than differences between Australia and West Indies. A heavy defeat and a near loss, over-dependence on a single player and non-performing captains are few of the things, and none of these are going to make people on either side happy.

Australia, who go into the match with the chance of entering their second WorldT20 final, have just been shaken off after their heavy defeat against Pakistan. That defeat which didn’t ruin their semi-final chances, has made the team realise how heavily it depends on Shane Watson. So much so that the single time he was left out, Australia were found searching for ground beneath.

Their coach, Micky Arthur, knows this well and has signalled a possible change. The return of Dave Hussey in the eleven looks imminent, some will say the wait in-between was unnecessary and over-stretched. The middle-order batsman is the second-most experienced T20 player in terms of matches, and has impressed with his batting in leagues all around the world. This means either Cameron White or the highly rated Glenn Maxwell will have to make way.

White has a lot of experience of playing in these conditions and Maxwell is a young prospect who adds value with his bowling too. But there is little the management can do.

Logically thinking, the obvious choice for exclusion would have been George Bailey. The Australian captain (the position itself is puzzling enough) has scores of 3, 3, 6*, 15 after arriving in Sri Lanka, and has a career average of 23.33 with 140 runs off the 12 T20 internationals he has played. But being captain makes him indispensable and adds more to the team’s woes.

We hope it is soothing for the Aussies to see Darren Sammy holding a similar position on the other side. It has been years now, and all that is known about Sammy’s cricketing abilities is that he is a captain. That is it and, sans irregular sparks, that is all. How Sourav Ganguly or Steve Waugh, both with greater ability and possibility of performing on their days, would rue being born few years earlier.

Australian fans have been quite vocal about their disappointment, David Hussey, being excluded. West Indians aren’t the expressive kind and so their support for Dwayne Smith—who also has been missing—is limited to a couple of comments below articles on websites. The fast scoring all-rounder has played just one match, and although he failed in that, he remains a force to reckon with.

The Gayle factor

Chris Gayle’s performances have determined West Indies’ fate ever since his return. He has 10 sixes from his five outings and two half-centuries in this tournament. The most feared batsman in world cricket today, he will again be essential in deciding his team’s fortune.

In ‘Starc’ contrast

Mitchell Starc stands separated from the rest of the Aussie bowlers. His nine wickets from five matches in this tournament in the sub-continent speaks volumes about his talent. In his last outing against West Indies in the group stage, he picked up 3/35. Even on the worst of Australia’s days, i.e their last match against Pakistan, he had figures of 3/20.

Watershed and Watson

Who remembers the last time Australians were so dependent on a single player? While this isn’t a pleasant situation, Watson has more often than not lived up to all the challenges. He has 242 runs from the five matches in the tournament and 11 wickets to show for all the trust they put in him.

The mystery bowler continues

Sunil Narine has continued with success for quite some time now, unsolved and unruffled by prying eyes. He picked a three-wicket haul against the Kiwis and although he has just one more wicket to his tournament tally, only once has he given away more than 30 runs from his quota.

Quotable quotes

“If you were to build the perfect T20 player, you’d build Watson or Chris Gayle. If you were mass marketing T20 players, you’d sell millions of David Hussey.” – cricket writer Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo.

“The subcontinent teams don’t want to see Pat Cummins hit the deck at 150kph. Against the West Indies, he might just have mix it up just a little bit more. We’ll give him all that information and then I’d really like to see him take ownership of that.” – Mickey Arthur, coach of Australian cricket team.

Last match results

Australia won by 17 runs by Duckworth-Lewis method.

West Indies – 191/8 off 20 overs

Australia – 100/1 off 9.1 overs

(C. Gayle 54, M. Strac 3/35; S. Watson 41, F. Edwards 1/16)

Prediction

Being the more experienced and more balanced unit, Australia will sail through.