Favourites Windies take on the Aussie might

An upbeat Australian side will play their second game in the group stages against a strong looking West Indian side on 22^nd September at the R. Premadasa stadium in Colombo. West Indies, a below par team in the longer formats of the game come into this tournament as one of the favourites. With big T20 names likes Chris Gayle, the Bravo brothers and Keiron Pollard, captain Darren Sammy will be setting his sights on the coveted trophy. For that, he will hope for a good strong start against a side that has begun very well. As far as the Aussies are concerned, they need to keep their momentum going. A win will keep them at the top of the table which will have a direct impact on their group in the super 8’s. Beyond that, George Bailey will be looking to beat a strong side like West Indies and get his boys geared up for tougher tests when they could possibly face the Sub-continent giants in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka or even the number one T20 side South Africa in the later stages of the tournament.

Australia has got off to a great start in the tournament. Many expected Ireland to test the relatively young Australian side but an all-round performance from the Aussies kept Ireland at bay. A similar performance against West Indies will only do their confidence a world of good. Darren Sammy and his boys, meanwhile, would have spent the last few days assessing the Australia- Ireland game and trying to find gaps and loopholes in the Aussie game, if any. The West Indian side has a lot of big names, most of who have been stars for their respective IPL franchises, but what will be interesting to see is if these lads can play well together at the International level.

Head to Head stats

The two sides have met on seven occasions and Australia hold a slightly better record, beating the Windies 4 times out of 7. This fixture will be West Indies’ chance to get back on level pegging.

Players to watch out

Chris Gayle: One often wonders if there can be any game where fans and, most importantly, oppositions aren’t looking out for this man. Gayle has been nothing but a ruthless beast in this format of the game. His ability to clear the field with great consistency makes him probably the most devastating batsman in this format of the game. Up against youngsters like Pat Cummins, he will be raring to go. From the Aussies point of view, one wonders if there’s anything that can be put down as a ‘plan’ against this Caribbean man.

Ravi Rampaul: The slower wickets will suit the wily medium pacer perfectly well. Known for extremely tight line and lengths, Rampaul’s quota of four overs will be extremely crucial for the Windies. Expect Darren Sammy to throw the ball to him first up.

Sunil Narine: The last time a certain ‘mystery bowler’ called Ajantha Mendis bowled in this tournament, he beat his previous best and picked up six wickets in a match against Zimbabwe. After watching Mendis fox batsmen in such a fashion, Narine will be pumped up to try some mystery deliveries of his own. If Shane Watson gets going like last he did in the last game, Sammy could resort to Narine to get the big man out.

Shane Watson: The in-form Aussie will only look to carry on from where he left off in the game against Ireland. It was the second time in the history of T20 Internationals that Shane Watson scored more than fifty runs and picked up 3 wickets. Aussie captain George Bailey will hope to see similar blitz from his opener.

David Warner: This man has the tendency to rise to the occasion. On slow, hard wickets like the ones in Sri Lanka, it will be hard to keep this man down. One big innings is always round the corner. It might just come against the Windies. He will be a big threat for the Windies, a perfect counter attack for all that Chris Gayle could inflict on Australia.

Glenn Maxwell: All-rounder Glenn Maxwell could be crucial in Australia’s bid to remain unbeaten in the group stages. In the recent past, Maxwell has been good with the bat, coming down the order and has been more than handy with the ball, turning his arm over. Captain Bailey might expect the all rounder to chip in and match the footsteps of the team’s premium all rounder Shane Watson.

Prediction:

This one is going to be a tough game to call. Expect an aggressive high scoring run chase on this hard surface of Premadasa. Australia was very sharp on the field in their game versus Ireland and kept it tight in all disciplines of the game. They look strong enough to see off a threat like West Indies but my money is still on the boys from the Caribbean.