ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Australia return to scene of carnage to face buoyant West Indies

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NOTTINGHAM: It was here in Nottingham last year that Australia suffered their heaviest defeat in a one-day international when England bulldozed them by 242 runs. More than a year removed from that forgettable hammering, Australia return to the Trent Bridge cricket ground in their second World Cup 2019 game, having beaten Afghanistan by seven wickets. In front of them, lay a buoyant West Indies unit, who haven’t had a bad opener themselves.

The last time the two teams met in an ODI encounter was back in September 2016, during a tri-series in the Caribbean, and although the Australians emerged victorious, a lot has happened between then and now. Both teams endured a horror run in 2018 but seem to have received a fresh lease of life this year. Australia sent a timely reminder as to why they shouldn’t be counted out, while West Indies provided ample evidence why they are more than the tag of “dark horse” in the World Cup.

West Indies were left fretting over the fitness of Andre Russell and Chris Gayle after their opener against Pakistan. Russell left the field after bowling three overs due to a bit of trouble in his left leg, while Gayle was seen favouring his lower back during the course of his innings. The good news though for WI is that both have been declared fit and remain for selection.

Unsurprisingly, bouncers and short-pitched bowling have been the order of the day when it comes to net sessions leading into Thursday’s contest. Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell underwent a light Australian practice session where they were dealt plenty of bouncers from the local bowlers and coach Justin Langer. There were no signs of David Warner though even as almost all the recognised batsmen had a go in the nets.

For Australia and West Indies, the two most dominating teams of two different generations, this is the most even they’ve been in recent memory. Aaron Finch and Jason Holder, the two captain, acknowledged the firepower in their opponents and expected the contest to be an exciting one. Neither captain hinted much of a change in their line-ups.

What: Australia vs West Indies, Match 10, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

When: June 6, 2019, Thursday

Venue: Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham

Time: 3:00 PM IST

Team News

Australia

The temptation of Nathan Lyon getting a place in the Playing XI is understandable. Then again, the boundaries of Trent Bridge are comparatively shorter than the remaining venues in England. Even Finch played up the idea of not changing his side much this early in the tournament.

Probable XI: 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 David Warner, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steve Smith, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Adam Zampa

West Indies

West Indies were as clinical as a team can get. Their pacers set the tone so expect that line-up to remain unchanged. Kemar Roach was seen sending down some thunderbolts to the batsmen so the only change likely to take place is him coming in to replace Sheldon Cottrell. The batsmen didn’t get to do much so expect a similar line-up.

Probable XI: 1 Chris Gayle 2 Shai Hope (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Ashley Nurse, 10 Sheldon Cottrell/Kemar Roach, 11 Oshane Thomas

Quotes

“I think the beauty with both of those guys is they’ve played enough cricket. We just tend to trust them, take their word and then make a final determination then. Chris was at practice for the last couple of days, so Chris for me is all well and ready to go. Andre will be obviously assessed today, and we’re very, very hopeful that he’ll be fit tomorrow.” – Jason Holder is positive about Gayle and Russell’s fitness

“None. I think just before we turned up to the training yesterday, a few boys talked about their previous experiences here, which obviously haven’t been overly pleasant, but we’re in the home change rooms, which is a first for everyone, which is nice.” – Aaron Finch mentioned there hasn’t been any discussion about Australia’s last visit to Trent Bridge