West Indies vs Australia 2021 [Preview]

West Indies will face Australia in the five-match T20I series, starting from July 10 in Gros Islet.

The home team will come in the contest full prepared after facing South Africa in a hard-fought T20I series.

Therefore, the management will be hoping that experience of playing against the Proteas just days before facing Australia—that too at the same venue—will help the players in producing their best display.

On the other hand, the visitors are coming in the contest after a lengthy break from international cricket and they have selected a weakened squad in order to prepare for the upcoming mega-event.

The management will be hoping that the players who have been selected for the tour will produce the goods for the Kangaroos and make their case strong for a selection in the 2021 International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup.

Both teams have faced off on 11 occasions in the history of T20I cricket where Windies have a slight advantage with six wins compared to five victories from Australia.

However, in the last five matches between the teams in the 20-over format, the Caribbean giants have been dominant as they registered four wins and just suffered a solitary defeat.

West Indies have selected a similar squad for the series against Australia as it consists majority of the players who played against South Africa recently.

In the batting department, the home team will be relying on the likes of explosive openers Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, young Shimron Hetmyer, wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran and captain Kieron Pollard to score the bulk of the runs.

Since Jul 2019, Kieron Pollard has topped the batting charts for West Indies in the 20-over format. In 25 T20I matches, Pollard has accumulated 555 runs at an average of 37.00 with four half-centuries to his name.

On the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards and Fabian Allen to produce timely breakthroughs.

Since July 2019, experienced pacer Dwayne Bravo is leading the bowling charts for West Indies in the shortest format of the game. In 13 matches, Bravo has claimed 20 wickets at an average of 17.15.

Australia have announced a rather inexperienced squad for the series without the likes of experienced batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner.

In the absence of star duo, the management will be heavily relying on the likes of captain Aaron Finch, wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey, top-order batsman Matthew Wade, Alex Carey, middle-order batsman Ashton Turner and all-rounders Moises Henriques, Dan Christian to score the bulk of the runs and give the bowlers something to defend.

On the bowling front, the onus will be on the likes of pacers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Jason Behrendorff, Wes Agar, Riley Meredith, Andrew Tye along with the spin duo of Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar to dismantle the opposition’s batting lineup.

All five T20I matches will be played at Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia on 9^th, 10^th, 12^th, 14^th and 16^th July respectively.

The culmination of the five-match T20I series will see Australia lock horns with West Indies in a three-match ODI series. All three games will be played at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown in Barbados on 20^th, 22^nd and 24^th July respectively.