Defending champions West Indies will take on Australia in search of their second successive win in the ICC World Twenty20 2014 tournament on Friday.
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Australia’s batsmen, especially the top order, has been on fire in recent times. However, against Pakistan in its ICC World Twenty20 2014 opener, Australia fell short by 16 runs in pursuit of a massive total and also had to deal with losing David Warner and Shane Watson cheaply.
West Indies started off with a loss against an in-form India, but came back strongly with a big 77-run win against Bangaldesh. Heading into what could be an exciting clash on Friday (March 28), West Indies will carry the winning momentum, but Australia showed its depth even in loss and cannot be counted out.
Here is a look at some of the facts and key battles ahead of the match.
Facts:
Australia and West Indies have won five matches apiece of the 10 T20Is played between these teams. West Indies has won three of the last four, including a semi-final at the ICC World Twenty20 2012.
Of those to bowl in at least 10 T20I innings, only Thomas Odoyo (4.72) has a lower economy rate than Samuel Badree (5.38).
Of players to face at least 100 balls in T20Is between Test-playing nations since the start of 2013, only Thisara Perera (79.2%) has played a higher percentage of attacking shots than Glenn Maxwell (78.7%).
Of players to face at least 100 balls in T20Is between Test-playing nations since the start of 2013, Glenn Maxwell (75.4%) and Aaron Finch (72.1%) have scored the highest percentage of runs in boundaries.
Only Anamul Haque (204) has scored more T20I runs in 2014 than Aaron Finch (201).
Approaching Milestones:
Shane Watson needs two wickets to pass Mitchell Johnson as Australia’s leading T20I wicket-taker.
Samuel Badree needs one wicket to become the fifth player to take 25 T20I wickets for West Indies.
Dwayne Smith needs 19 runs to become the sixth player to score 500 T20I runs for West Indies.
Key Battles:
Shane Watson v Chris Gayle
These big hitters are two of the tournament’s star players. Only Brendon McCullum has hit more T20I sixes than Gayle (70) and Watson (66), whose career strike rates are 136.7 and 148.3 respectively. They are amongst the most powerful players on show in this tournament. Factors such as boundaries per ball faced, attacking shot percentage and sixes per boundary help Watson to have a Key Performance Indicator for power of 100%. Gayle’s rating is 95%.
Watson also has his tight and incisive bowling to offer. He is the leading wicket-taker in T20Is between these teams, with eight from nine innings at an economy rate of 6.55. His wicket against Pakistan was his first in five innings, but the big all-rounder is a man for the big occasion – he was the second highest wicket- taker at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, when he also topped the run charts.
