 The second of the three games on the Super Saturday will be played between two
Group C teams, Australia and West Indies. In the previous edition,
Australia had lost to India in the semi-finals, while the West Indies had not
even progressed beyond the first round.
Australia's preparations would have received a sickening blow with the sending
back of Andrew Symonds, not only from a personnel point of view, but
also denting their morale before an all-important tournament like this. In turn,
if there is any team which has the wherewithal to make a comeback from such
a situation, it has to be the tough-as-nails Australians. Cameron White is Symonds'
replacement in the squad, but one gets the sense that he may not immediately
play in the games.
Shane Watson will be the all-rounder that Australia will now look up
to, however, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to bowl. His injuries
have meant that Watson may have begun opening the batting inning - with reasonable
success - but stopped bowling altogether. He, along with the other opener, Brad
Haddin will be vital cogs in the line-up.
Ricky Ponting hasn't taken this latest format too seriously in the past, which
is one reason why his success rate is rather poor. The Australians will want
to overcome it, and for that to happen, the middle-order for the Australians,
consisting of Ponting himself along with the Hussey brothers, needs to fire.
The bowling, on the other hand, seems to be in able hands and with the return
of Brett Lee to the squad, it cannot get better. Mitchell Johnson will hold
the key to stifle the and price out the opposition with his left-hand quick
bowling that will get some assistance on most English wickets.
The West Indian team though could prove to be hard nuts to crack, if their
captain and opener, Chris Gayle gets them off to a start like the one
he had in the first game of the previous such tournament. Shivnaraine Chanderpaul
is struggling with his form, but he can definitely be useful bat, while Ramnaresh
Sarwan would also need to put on his experience cap to guide the middle-order
through. Dwayne Bravo could then come in add the icing to the cake from around
the 12th or the 13th over.
The bowling will be led by the man in form, Fidel Edwards, with Jerome Taylor
having a part to play and Bravo getting in some overs with his changes of pace.
The rest of it is as inexperienced as it can get and that will be West Indies'
biggest worry in a format that doesn't afford too many second chances.
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