Tri-Series 2016 Final: West Indies aim to shock mighty Aussies

A massive 100-run win over the mighty Proteas has seen the latter pack up their bags and head back to South Africa. While Twitter lambasted the infamous ‘chokers’, very few saw the genius of Darren Bravo. The southpaw will be expected to play a similar sort of innings as both sides aim to lift the all-important Tri-Series 2016 title tomorrow. That said, an exciting encounter is on the cards as both these sides take on each other in the final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Pitch Conditions:

In the context of the recent Tri-Series, the faster bowlers have been successful in the extracting bounce off the Barbados wicket. However, the showers and persistent rains have played their part in the dampness of the wicket, thereby helping the spinners as well as the slower bowlers of both sides. Although thundershowers are expected, it is highly likely that all 100 overs will be played without the intervention of the DLS method.

Team Analysis

West Indies:

After a demoralizing loss at the hands of Australia, the Windies followed it up with a wonderful 100-run win against South Africa. The hosts were also the beneficiary of a wonderful batting performance by Darren Bravo who compiled a masterly 102. Moreover, the returning Shannon Gabriel picked three wickets in what turned out to be a complete performance for Jason Holder and his men.

Against the Australians, the Windies will be hoping that their initial loss spurns them to perform much better. For this, they will be looking towards their batting stalwarts Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels to come up with the goods. The West Indies management will also be hoping that the record of Gordon Greenidge will be a motivation for Samuels as they attempt to overhaul the Aussies.

Australia:

The Aussies didn’t cruise to the final. In spite of being the best team around, they have had to fight for their place in the final. However, now that they are in the final, they will be hoping for an easy victory. The fact that there will certainly not be many changes in the squad is also somewhat of a morale booster for the Australians.

Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood will be in the limelight, especially with the wicket expected to have the pace and bounce most have expected from it. The Aussies will also focus their attention on George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell to add the required runs in a flurry as they have done for the most part in this series.

Probable XI-

West Indies:

Jason Holder (C), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Fletcher, Johnson Charles, Daren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Suleiman Benn, Shannon Gabriel

Australia:

Steve Smith (C), Matthew Wade (wk), Usman Khawaja, Aaron Finch, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazelwood

StAttack:

1. Mitchell Starc needs two wickets to complete 100 wickets in ODI cricket. Should he achieve this feat, he would eclipse Imran Tahir to go atop the table.

2. Marlon Samuels needs 77 runs to become West Indies’ highest run-getter in ODI cricket. Should he do so, he will surpass former West Indies cricketing legend Gordon Greenidge.

3. Mitchell Marsh needs 8 runs to complete 1000 runs in ODI cricket.

4. Darren Bravo needs one run to complete 2500 ODI runs while Kieron Pollard needs 3 more ODI matches to complete 100 ODIs in his career.