Aus v WI 3rd Test Preview: West Indies look for revival as Australia eye clean sweep

Australia has retained the Frank Worrell trophy to keep alive the 20 years winning streak while West Indies, are still in the process of finding solutions to their problems and are currently going through their worst time in Test cricket. After losing the first two Tests in a fairly humiliating manner, West Indies will have their last chance to find solace.

Sydney has different characteristics from the last two venue- Hobart and MCG. The curator believes it would assist spin and they might sense this as a good opportunity to fight back and gain confidence. West Indies batsmen have slowly begun to show some resistance to the Australian pace attack. All they need to do is to put in a collective batting effort in order to be competent. They showed glimpses of consistency in the second Test and will surely love to continue from where they left at Melbourne. A win at Sydney would do wonders to the lost pride and morale of the West Indies cricket.

West Indies:

West Indies batsman must make sure that they make the most of the slow track which will host the last Test. They have been largely dependent on Darren Bravo who has been the sole outstanding performer with the bat for the West Indies team this series with 214 runs at an average of 53.50. Craig Braithwaite and Dinesh Ramdin will be the other two batsmen on whom West Indies will pin their batting hopes.

Skipper Jason Holder has tried to contribute as much he can in both the departments. The bowlers hold the key to success if West Indies aims for a consolidatory win to end the Test series. Their bowling attack has been rendered ineffective by the Australian batsmen who have till now hit 6 centuries combined in this series against them. The economy rates at which they bowled in this series hovered around 5 runs or higher. Wicket taking ability also looks to have gone astray as they have managed only 10 wickets in the first two Tests. The slow track might encourage West Indies to include Devendra Bishoo but he has not recovered from a shoulder injury suffered during training in Melbourne.

Australia:

But, now they would surely be aiming for a 3-0 whitewash. Logically, the task looks fairly easy as West Indies are still trying to find their foot in the series which has neared its end. The batsmen are batting with a golden touch, hammering the helpless Windies bowler without any mercy. Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja average over hundred after the first two Tests. Given the fact that the pitch would offer traditional SCG spin, Australia has chosen two spinners for the last Test.

Subsequently, left-arm spinner Steven O’Keefe was added to the squad and will join Nathan Lyon to add strength to the spin attack. Peter Siddle was left out after struggling with an ankle problem in Melbourne but that should not make any difference. Virtually there is no weakness to count from their side and all they need to do is go out and continue their domination.

Stats-

• The chasm between the two sides in this series is shown by the average runs per wicket lost: Australia have scored 131.30 to West Indies’ 24.31
• The five leading wicket-takers in the series are all Australians- James Pattinson (11), Nathan Lyon (10), Josh Hazlewood (7), Mitchell Marsh (5) and Peter Siddle (5).
• Last time Australia played two specialist spinners in a Sydney Test (not counting Steven Smith’s leg spin) was 2006 when Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill played together against South Africa.
• Adam Voges has played four Tests against West Indies for scores of 130*, 37, 269* and 106*, and since he has been dismissed only once he has an incredible average of 542.00 against them. The next highest average by any Test batsman against a single opposition is 293.00, from Jacques Rudolph’s two Tests against Bangladesh.

Squads:

Australia:

Joe Burns, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (C), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Steve O’Keefe, James Pattinson, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon

West Indies:

Kraigg Brathwaite, Rajendra Chandrika, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Blackwood, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Jason Holder (capt), Carlos Brathwaite, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warrican, Miguel Cummins