The second ODI between Australia and West Indies will be played at the Adelaide Oval. And if the West Indian side has to live up to the expectations of their captain Chris Gayle's prediction of a 4-1 win against the Aussies, they will need to win all the games from hereon, starting from the Adelaide match.

The West Indian side is 0-1 down, but it was the manner in which they collapsed that would be worrisome for their side. The target was not really a big one, but the batsmen failed to get going after the captain Chris Gayle departed early at Melbourne and it is this over-dependence of Gayle that could land them in trouble.

It is high time that the youngsters also start to get the contributions going. For some reason, Runako Morton was opening the innings with Gayle, and as has been the case with Morton, he used up almost three overs for his three runs. That is something that has been a problem with Morton, and the West Indians will need to find alternatives for the opening slot. One is surprised that someone like an Adrian Barath has not been afforded any opportunities in the ODIs, despite being given a chance as a Test and a T20 cricketer!

One almost gets a sense that Kieron Pollard is batting way down the batting order for the West Indian side. A talent-house that he is, it will not be a bad idea to have coming in at one drop or two down to get the score moving, and hope that the rest of the batting clicks as well. Dwayne Bravo's absence is an obvious issue, but the West Indians need to get out of the self-pity mode, and play much more aggressively.

The Aussie batsmen, on the other hand, all got starts to their innings. They failed to kick on for a really big total, but then they did their business on a pitch that did not look half as quick as the same ground had two days back for the T20I.

Shane Watson continues to impress but what would have been heartening from the Aussie point of view is that the skipper Ricky Ponting was back amongst the runs. Even against his nemesis, Kemar Roach, he did his best that he could and negotiated the pace to get to 49.

What would have been rather excellent to watch was the Australian bowling. It is almost a second string attack, what with the likes of Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger not even in the reckoning four months back. However, they have now become the stars of the show with their excellent wicket-taking ability.

Tag :- Adrian Barath   Australia   Chris Gayle   Kieron Pollard   Ricky Ponting   Runako Morton   West Indies