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Australia stand between West Indies and World Twenty20 semis

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Australia stand between West Indies and World Twenty20 semis

The West Indies face the unenviable task of halting a rampant Australia if they are to progress to the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.

After quietly disappearing out the back door of the 2009 World Twenty20 in England, Australia have stamped their dominance on the Caribbean competition this year.

Michael Clarke’s side are flying after two Super Eight matches – a comprehensive 49-run victory against India and an even more emphatic 81-run thrashing of Sri Lanka – and now they meet the West Indies as the Aussies seek to maintain their momentum heading into the semi-finals.

Sure, there’s a theoretical possibility Australia will miss out on the World Twenty20 semi-finals, but the chances of it happening are so tiny you’d need a pretty powerful microscope to see them.

There’s also a slim chance that the West Indies can progress to the semis even with a loss against Australia, depending on the result in today’s other Group F match between India and Sri Lanka, but with the host’s ordinary net run-rate that scenario is an outside chance at best.

The question, then, is: can the West Indies halt the Australian juggernaut and in doing so book themselves a place alongside the Aussies on the semis?

The answer, it seems, rests largely on the performance of their skipper. Chris Gayle’s flamboyant batting has turned a match in his side’s favour more than once before, and the hosts will be relying on him to dish up an innings not to dissimilar to the 98 he produced in their 14-run win against India.

That’s form Gayle was not able to produce in the West Indies’ two most recent Twenty20 matches against Australia earlier this year. The captain managed just five as Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes demolished the opposition batsmen as Australia cruised to a 38-run victory in Hobart; and only 12 in Sydney, when the home team crushed the visitors by eight wickets, and with 50 balls in hand.

The West Indies have the home turf advantage in this match, but will need to produce a dramatic turnaround to reverse those results against an Australian side that has of late developed a taste for big victories.

There are a couple of advantages, however, that Gayle’s men have compared to India and Sri Lanka as they match up against the Australians at St Lucia. The first is that the slower pitch here should take some of the sting out of Tait, Nannes and Mitchell Johnson’s pace and bounce, but a West Indies bowling attack that employed the same short ball tactics against India will also lose that edge at this ground.

The second is that while the West Indies may be a shadow of the 1980s powerhouse they once were, this is a team that has in the past set the likes of Joel Garner and Curtly Ambrose loose on the world. Put simply, the West Indies shouldn’t be quite as perturbed by the combination of pace and bounce as the Indians and Sri Lankans were.

In fact, if Gayle gets his eye in, he’ll be quite happy to use the Australians’ pace against them and find the boundaries at St Lucia.

The problem for the hosts is that while they’ve got Gayle, Australia has David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White, David Hussey and Michael Hussey. Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin is also a more than handy batsman, while Clarke has yet to make an impact in the Caribbean with his more classic strokeplay but that’s not to say that if necessity arises he won’t be up to the challenge.

It’s a strength in depth that the West Indies cannot hope to match, while Australia look to have hit upon the formula that might just win them the trophy in the Caribbean.

Prediction: It’s hard to argue with form like Australia’s, and they should romp this one in too.

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