With Sri Lanka already in the finals, the winner of the match between West Indies and Australia will meet the Lankans on Sunday. Watson and Gayle hold the key to success for their teams.
TWO STRONGEST teams of the
T20 World Cup - Australia and West Indies are scheduled to play the second semi-finals of the championship later today in Colombo. Sri Lanka has already reached the finals of the tournament after defeating Pakistan in the first semi-final yesterday. They would meet the winner of the match this Sunday for the T20 World Cup finals.
Australia has looked impressive in the tournament putting up clinical performances against big teams such as South Africa and
India in the Super Eights stage.
Shane Watson has been primarily responsible for their winning performances. He has been their best player with both the bat and the ball. So the West Indians would be aware of the importance of his wicket while he is on the batting crease. Along with Watson, Hussey and Warner has been in equally good form to contribute to their team's victory. Bowlers such as Doherty, Starc, Cummins and Hogg have also done a fabulous job by restricting teams to low scores. But, these bowlers have to deal with an aggressive batting line up of West Indies.
West Indies reply to Shane Watson could be Chris Gayle, who is the most feared T20 batsman of the current generation. He has tormented Aussie bowlers in the past with his lusty hitting and his teammates would like him to come up with such performance only, where the best of the best bowlers also look helpless. Rest of the batsmen such as Samuels, Pollard need to help Gayle by contributing whatever they can. They also have a good bowling line up, which includes the mystery spinner, Sunil Naraine and other bowlers – Rampaul, Sammy, Badree etc.
Both these teams cannot afford not to think about the Sunday's final. They need to concentrate on the game and take it one step at a time. The result of the match would largely depend on the success of Watson and Gayle.
