West Indies Tri-Series Game 8

Things are getting serious for Australia in the Tri-Nations tournament. After a washout on Sunday they go into their final match in the round robin campaign knowing they have to beat the West Indies to make the final. Anything else and they will be flying home.

West Indies will make the final if they win this match but should they lose it isn’t terminal. They will have another chance to reach the final when they face South Africa on Friday but they have the chance to eliminate Australia here.

West Indies

The West Indies have been up and down in this tournament but when they have been good they’ve been very good. Nearly all of their top order have looked good at times in the competition and they have generally bowled well as a unit apart from when South Africa got hold of them in St Kitts.

In their battles with Australia the Windies made a pigs ear of batting first and lost convincingly in Guyana but they produced an excellent run chase in St Kitts so they know they have nothing to fear going into a third meeting with them in this competition.

Australia

If Australia are going to make it into this final they are going to have to up their game with the bat and up it significantly. Their middle order in particular has offered little in the series which isn’t good but now is the time to change all of that.

The positive is the options Australia have with the ball and on a wicket that is expected to be strong for batting that can’t be a bad thing. The more options means the less chance of one of them getting lined up and being carted.

Team News

West Indies will definitely be making one change here as Jerome Taylor has been dropped by the selectors. Shannon Gabriel and Ashley Nurse are the men looking to come into the side with Gabriel the man most likely to make his debut.

Scott Boland was picked in the Australia side for the washed out previous match but that was only because of the rain. If the forecast has picked up then we should assume that Adam Zampa will come back into the side. Glenn Maxwell is set to start again too.

Kensington Oval

We never got to see how the wicket played in the first match as it was abandoned after just one over but we know from previous experience that the wicket is good for batting but there is pace and bounce in it to keep the bowlers interested. It is expected to be a high scoring game.

Betting

I’m taking two bets in this match. I’m leaving the match itself alone until we know how the wicket is playing although I’ve a feeling the side that is chasing will win the game unless conditions change dramatically under lights.

The first bet is on the West Indies to hit the most sixes. I took this bet when these two last met in St Kitts and the Windies won 10-7 on that occasion and in Guyana even though the West Indies were shot out for little over 100 they still hit more sixes.

Since then Dave Warner has left the series and he hasn’t left much behind in terms of six hitting whereas we know the West Indies naturally hit the ball big and quite regularly. At a shade under evens Windies to hit the most sixes looks good again.

I’ve mentioned Mitchell Starc’s record at this level previously and amazingly despite that excellent record we can get his performance line at 39.5 here which means another two wickets will see that covered with plenty to spare.

The beauty of taking his performance instead of his wickets like we did earlier in the series is that any points he scores in catches and runs all count and that could prove handy when we tot up the final numbers. His record suggests that he’ll cover it with the ball however so I’m happy to be on there.

Tips

WON – Back West Indies Most 6s for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Winner Sports

Back it here:

WON – Back M.Starc’s Performance – Over 39.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365

Back it here: