Australia take on West Indies in the T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, West Indies are no longer in contention for a semi final place whilst Australia still have work to do if they are to qualify.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Group 1 Update.
England top this group with 4 wins from 4 and as long as they avoid a heavy defeat against South Africa in the second of Saturday's matches they will top the group.
Australia and South Africa both have 3 wins and 1 defeat against their name but the Aussies currently have the better net run rate, +1.031 compared to the Proteas +0.742. After the result of Australia v West Indies the calculators will come out but for now the scenario is best explained here.
Australia
Australia's were looking for a thumping win against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday and things went perfectly. They won the game by 8 wickets, bowling Bangladesh out for just 73 with Zampa claiming 5/19. Finch top scored with 40 in a chase which was completed in just 6.2 overs and that was most relevant as Australia moved above South Africa on net run rate.
Earlier results saw Australia beat South Africa (5 wickets) and Sri Lanka (7 wickets) before they suffered a 8 wicket defeat to England.
Australian are priced at around 9/2 to win the tournament and 14/10 to reach the final.
This is how they lined up against Bangladesh on Thursday.
David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
West Indies
West Indies went into Thursday's clash with Sri Lanka needing a wide margin victory to stay in contention for a semi final place but they came up short of a 190 victory target, going down by 20 runs.
Their only victory came against Bangladesh by a 3 run margin and the defending champions were thrashed by England and South Africa (6 wickets and 8 wickets)
This was how West Indies lined up last time out.
Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Roston Chase, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul
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Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 16 times with Australia winning 6 to West Indies 10
The most recent meeting's came in a 5 match series in July this year,. Australia were not at full strength and West Indies ran out 4-1 winners.
The Betting
Australia are currently trading at around 0.36/1 to win the game and West Indies can be backed at around 21/10
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
Australia's wide margin win over Bangladesh gives them an advantage over the Proteas in the race for a semi final spot. West Indies haven't fired in this tournament but one would hope for a show of pride from some of their big guns although as the betting suggests, an upset would seem unlikely.
I'll look to the top bat markets with preference for Finch for Australia and Pooran for West Indies.
Bets: Top Australia Bat Finch at 5/2
Top West Indies Bat Pooran at 5/1
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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