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Australia favourites at Oval but Gayle factor looms large

Andrew SymondsThe 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.

Tag :- Andrew Symonds   Australia   Chris Gayle   Shane Watson   Shivnaraine Chanderpaul   West Indies  

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