West Indies vs Australia – 4th T20 International Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is West Indies vs Australia taking place? Thursday, July 15th, 2021 – 00:30 (UK)
Where is West Indies vs Australia taking place? Daren Sammy National Stadium, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia
What is the expected weather for West Indies vs Australia? 27c with clear skies and a gentle breeze
What channel is West Indies vs Australia on? The match will be televised live on BT Sport in the UK
Where can I stream West Indies vs Australia? BT Sport subscribers will be able to stream the match live via the BT Sport website and app
LAST MEETING
West Indies beat Australia by six wickets.
THE TEAM NEWS
WEST INDIES
- West Indies sealed an unassailable lead in their five-match T20i series against Australia, after comfortably chasing down a target of 142 in just 14.5 overs with six wickets remaining to take a 3-0 series lead.
- After a poor run of form in a Windies shirt, the ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle was back to his imperious best at the shortest format of international cricket, blasting 67 from just 38 balls to break the back of the run chase with an incredible seven sixes coming from his bat.
- Despite captain Keiron Pollard not being fit to play, he still played a big part in victory by giving Gayle the pep talk he needed to go out and destroy the opposition bowling, however it remains to be seen if the big hitting all-rounder will be fit enough to play a part in the fourth T20, with Nicholas Pooran ready to continue deputising as captain in his place.
AUSTRALIA
- It has been a miserable tour for Australia so far and they once again found themselves comprehensively beaten in the third T20i, only managing to score 141 for the loss of six wickets after winning the toss and batting.
- All-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been the star of the tourists’ batting so far in this T20i series, but he was dismissed for just nine, whilst no Australian player managed a score above 33, with a number of batters getting starts, but not converting them into match winning scores.
- Ben McDermott and Josh Philippe were both left out of the side in favour of Alex Carey and Ashton Turner in the third T20i and captain Aaron Finch may look to reinstate one of those batters here, whilst bowler Riley Meredith will hope to keep his place after taking three wickets in the last match, although his economy rate topped 12 runs an over.
THE PREDICTION
So far, this T20i series has been an emphatic one with West Indies having already ensured their triumph with two games left. It has been a dominant showing by the home side, who have no doubt left Australia with many questions to ponder regarding the quality of their squad as a whole. Without their star players missing from this tour, they are a vastly inferior side to the Windies in this format of the game and have an excellent chance of recording a 5-0 sweep, providing they can continue their high levels of performance. Their biggest worry with the bat was Chris Gayle and with the 41-year-old seemingly back to his best, they look a very difficult unit to stop. Therefore, another fourth consecutive home win has to be favoured here, with a weakened Australian side looking simply no match for West Indies at present.
