WI vs AUS Preview । Australia eye unassailable lead with comfort of Smith's return

ByUmesh Sharma,SportsCafe Editor

Yesterday at 10:35 PM

Australia celebrate after defeating West Indies by 159 runs on third day of the first Test in Barbados.

Moving ahead to the second Test at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada, West Indies will aim to level the series at 1-1 after losing the first Test by a big margin of 159 runs. The big discussion is around the return of the former Aussie skipper, Steve Smith, after missing the first Test.

‌Australia completely outplayed the West Indies in the first Test of the three-match series, with the game getting finished on the third day itself. The West Indies were right in the game in the first innings, but the visitors completely took over the game in the second innings, posting a massive target of 301 runs for the hosts to chase.

Australia won the toss and decided to bat first; they were bundled out at a score of 180 runs, followed by West Indies taking a 10-run lead with their first-innings total of 190 runs. Pat Cummins’ men scored 310 runs before bundling out the hosts for just 141 runs in the fourth innings. Thus, Australia won the game by 159 runs to gain a 1-0 lead. Notably, they played without the former skipper and star batter, Steve Smith, in the first Test. However, he is expected to be back in action for his side in the second Test in Grenada.

Form Guide

WI: W L L W L

AUS: W W W L W

WI vs AUS Head-to-Head in Tests

West Indies and Australia have been facing each other in Tests for the last 95 years since 1930. West Indies won their first game in head-to-head clashes against Australia after facing four consecutive defeats in the five-match series in 1930-31. Since then, both teams have faced each other in 121 Tests, with the Aussies winning 62 games and the Caribbean side getting success in 33 games, alongside a historic Brisbane Tie in 1960. Besides these games, 25 games have also ended in a draw, with Australia leading this battle by a huge margin.

WI 33-62 AUS

Pitch and Weather

The surface at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s, Grenada, is known for its bowling-friendly nature, especially for the pacers. However, the batters might get going in the first half of the game, with pacers coming into the scene as the game progresses to the third and fourth day. The average first-innings score here has been 278 runs, while the overall average score has been 257 runs. So, the toss-winning skipper will look ahead to batting first and put the opponent in a troubling fourth-innings run chase.

Speaking of the weather conditions, the weather is expected to be quite cloudy alongside some hints of sun, with the minimum temperature of 26 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. However, there could be some showers in the second session around 1:00 PM (local time) on Day 1. Besides that, the weather looks quite good, without any interruptions forecast in the game.

Team News

West Indies might look forward to going ahead with the same combination they fielded in the first Test in Bridgetown. The Caribbean side performed quite decently in the first innings of the opening Test, except for a sudden fall in the second innings. So, they might not be executing any changes in the playing XI of the second Test.

As for Australia, one change is on the cards, and that is the former skipper Steve Smith making a return in the playing XI. He will be replacing the star batter Josh Inglis in the top order. However, the Aussie management will also be avoiding keeping Smith in the slip cordon owing to the recovery phase of his finger injury.

WI Probable Playing XI: Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Brandon King, Roston Chase (c), Shai Hope (wk), Justin Greaves, Jomel Warrican, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales.

AUS Probable Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.