Australia vs West Indies: The Final Stretch for the T20 World Cup Begins

• Australia have a considerably stronger side, especially at home.
• West Indies have lost five of their last six T20Is.
• Australia will be bolstered by the availability of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc.

Australia vs West Indies Odds

Australia vs West Indies Prediction and Pick

Australia and West Indies have faced each other on 17 occasions in T20 cricket, with West Indies leading the scoreline by 10 wins to 7. However, Australia are a much stronger side for home conditions and should win the first T20I on Wednesday.

Australia to win (-250)

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh/Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

West Indies: Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran (c/wk), Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Raymon Reifer, Odean Smith, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy

Australia Packs Full Strength as the Final Stretch for the T20 World Cup Begins

The defending T20 world champions Australia are slated to play two T20Is versus West Indies followed by three against England as part of the final stretch ahead of the T20 World Cup in two weeks time. The first of the two T20Is against West Indies will take place at Carrara Oval on Wednesday.

Australia toured India for a three-match T20I series just recently. They won the first match, chasing a big target but lost the following two games to concede the series. The Aaron Finch-led side has played only 12 T20Is this year, winning eight and losing four games.

West Indies, on the other hand, has competed in 19 matches in the shorter format this year, winning only seven and losing 11 of those. In July, they faced India in a five-match series and lost by 4-1. Later they hosted New Zealand, losing the first two games and winning the dead rubber.

Team News

Australia will have David Warner, Mitchell Starc, and Mitchell Marsh back in the side. Warner was rested from the India tour while the trio of Marsh, Starc and Marcus Stoinis had fitness concerns. Stoinis remains unavailable for this series. Australia might have to make a couple of tricky calls for this game. They could continue to give more exposure to Chris Green if they want to be cautious with Marsh. With Tim David almost nailing his spot and Stonis unavailable, there’s one spot open for which Steve Smith could just edge out Josh Inglis on reputation.

West Indies made quite a few surprising calls for the upcoming event, most notably leaving out Andre Russell. In another bizarre development, Shimron Hetmyer was dropped from the squad for missing his flight to Australia. Shamarh Brooks was named the replacement and will join the team later this week. Evin Lewis returns and is likely to form the top order alongside Brandon King and Kyle Mayers with captain Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell in the middle order. As for the bowling attack, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph and Obed McCoy were brilliant for their respective franchises in the recently concluded CPL. Akela Hosein will be the lead spinner in the side with Hayden Walsh getting dropped.

Key Players

David Warner: One of the greatest players the T20 format has ever seen, Warner will be raring to go in home conditions. He has only played three T20Is this year, smashing an unbeaten 70 in one of those. Warner has an outstanding record for Australia in the shorter format, having scored 2684 runs in 91 matches at an average of 34 while striking at 141. The left-hander has smashed one hundred and 22 fifties at this level. Warner was the player of the tournament in the last WC, scoring 289 runs from seven innings at 48 average and 147 strike rate.

Rovman Powell: The confidence will be sky high for the 29yr old after he led Jamaica Tallawahs to their third CPL title just recently. Powell played a crucial role in their winning campaign, scoring 281 runs in 12 innings at an average of 35 and strike rate of 124, including two fifties. In his overall T20 career, Powell has scored over 2600 runs at a strike rate of 135 while averaging 25. Powell is one of the better players of pace bowling and will be a key figure for the Windies down under.

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