T20 World Cup | Team Analysis: Australia vs West Indies

Australia’s chances of qualifying for the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 have come down to their final group game against West Indies. Australia face West Indies in match 38 of the tournament at Sheik Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. For Australia to go through to semi-finals, they first need to beat West Indies and then hope South Africa lose to England in match 39 later in the day.

Australia started their T20 World Cup campaign in style as they beat South Africa in their opening fixture of the tournament. The win was followed by another impressive win over Sri Lanka. There was a bit of a set back for the Aussies as they were thumped by England in their following fixture. But the team bounced back to defeat Bangladesh to keep their semi-finals hopes alive.

Defending champions West Indies have endured a tough T20 World Cup which have seen them lose against England, South Africa and Sri Lanka. West Indies’ only win was a narrow three-run win over Bangladesh.

Australia’s strengths:

Australian bowlers are in good form. Spinner Adam Zampa has picked 10 wickets in the tournament. He has been supported by the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. The three pacers have combined to pick 13 wickets. If the four bowlers click, then West Indies batters could have a tough outing.

Australia’s weaknesses:

Australia’s biggest concern is form of opener David Warner. The left-handed opener had a horrible IPL 2021 season and the poor form has extended in the T20 World Cup too. In this World Cup Warner has managed only 98 runs from 4 innings. Warner will have to leave his poor form behind to win this crucial match for Australia.

West Indies strengths:

In a tournament, which the West Indies would like to forget quickly, the recent form of batters Nichollas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer should inspire the team. Pooran has played two blistering knocks of 40 and 46 in previous two games. Hetmyer played a valiant innings of unbeaten 81 from 54 balls against Sri Lanka.

West Indies weaknesses:

Repeated failure of Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell has been one of the reasons for West Indies’ poor shown in the UAE. Pollard has managed only 46 runs and has failed to pick a wicket. Russell has only 7 runs with the bat in this tournament and picked 3 wickets.

Head-to-head

Matches played: 16

Australia wins: 6

West Indies wins: 10

Form Guide

Australia: W-L-W-W-L

West Indies: L-W-L-L-L

Pitch and conditions

Of the 12 T20 World Cup 2021 games played at Sheik Zayed Stadium, seven have been won by the teams chasing. But the last three games played at this venue have been won by team batting first. So chasing is becoming tougher at this venue.

The afternoon will be sunny and pleasant. The temperature will be around 31°C. The humidity level will be 54%

Team News

No injury concerns for either team.

Deccan Herald’s Dream XI

Aaron Finch (c), Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Kieron Pollard, Jason Holder, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Impact player for Australia

Mitchell Starc: The Aussie pacer has picked 21 wickets from 14 T2o World Cup games. In his past four matches, Starch has claimed 6 wickets. Against an already struggling West Indies batting line up Starc could prove menacing.

Impact player for West Indies

Nicholas Pooran: Nicholas Pooran has suffered from poor from recently, but there has been an uptick in Pooran’s form in the previous two games. Pooran hammered 40 from just 22 balls against Bangladesh and got a brisk 46 from 34 deliveries against Sri Lanka. Pooran’s from will be critical for West Indies.