🏏ICC T20 World Cup 2021 match 38: Australia vs West Indies🏏

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In match no. 38 – Super 12 stages – of ICC T20 World Cup 2021 tournament, Australia and West Indies will square off against each other today.

Their campaign back on track after drubbing Bangladesh in their previous game, Australia cannot afford a slip-up against an unpredictable West Indies in their final Super 12 match as they look to seal a semifinal spot .

After losing to arch-rivals England last Saturday, Australia bounced back with a record eight-wicket win over Bangladesh on Thursday, which boosted their net run rate from -0.627 to +1.031.

A spot in the semi-final will be on the line for Australia . They have so far won three of their first four matches and are one win away from securing a spot in the top two to make it to the next round.

A loss against West Indies might prove fatal to their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals, as South Africa are breathing down their neck with the same number of points in their bag and a game in hand.

If Australia loses against West Indies and South Africa win their final Super 12 game against England, the Proteas would finish second in the group and qualify for the semis.

AUS vs WI --- Playing XI

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (C), Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa.

West Indies: Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Roston Chase, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Dwayne Bravo, Jason Holder, Kieron Pollard (C), Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell and Akeal Hosein.

A loss against West Indies might prove fatal to Australia's chances of qualifying for the semi-finals as South Africa are breathing down their neck with the same number of points in their bag and a game in hand.

If Australia lose against West Indies and South Africa win their final Super 12 game against England, the Proteas would finish second in the group and qualify for the semis!!

Currently, Australia are in a stronger position to make it to the next round even if South Africa manage to beat England in their last group game as Aussies have a much better net run rate of +1.031 compared to South Africa's +0.742, who will have to register a huge win if they are to surpass Australia even if Aaron Finch's men beat West Indies.

But, the most important point is Australia haven't played their best cricket so far !!

West Indies have dominated Australia in T20Is when it comes to head-to-head record between the two sides with 10 wins in total 16 meetings against each other. However, in this year's T20 World Cup, West Indies have not been the side they are known as and have massively underperformed. Aussies might start as favourites against them and will look to give their all considering it will be their last bid for a spot in the semi-finals.

Total Matches Played 16
Australia Won 6
West Indies Won 10
Tie 0
No Result 0

Pitch Report

Abu Dhabi has proved to be a high-scoring venue in the recent games. The pitches have been true and the batsmen have enjoyed their time in the middle. We can expect a similar pitch for this game.

Tagging a few more cricket enthusiasts 🤗⭐️⭐️

West Indies is such a dangerous side. We saw that when we played them. Obviously with them being out of the competition now they've got nothing to lose, which can also be a really dangerous spot

Aaron Finch, Australia captain

That's really important that we just go and stick to our guns, stick to our process because we know that that's good enough when we get it right. So that's important

Aaron Finch, Australia captain

Head-to-Head (in ICC T20 World Cups)

Australia 2 - West Indies 3

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Head-to-Head (in T20Is)

Australia 6 - West Indies 10

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Windies captain Kieron Pollard bids farewell to Dwayne Bravo after today's match.

The two-time defending champions West Indies side failed to live up to their reputation as they relied heavily on their ageing stars like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard.

Australia, on the other hand, are beginning to peak at the right time in their bid to win their only missing title.