Twenty20 / Andrew Hughes / 21 February 2010 /

Australia are one game away from going through their entire summer undefeated. Andrew Hughes previews Tuesday's second Twenty20 game in Sydney and asks whether the West Indies can upset the party.

Team News

Australia are likely to make at least one change, giving all-rounder Daniel Christian his international debut, with one eye on the World Twenty20 later this spring. The West Indies have some options. Travis Dowlin or even Brandon Nash could come in to the middle order and Ravi Rampaul may be called upon as the seamers were pretty expensive in Sunday's defeat.

Conditions

Surprisingly, the Sydney Cricket Ground has played only two international Twenty20 games and the domestic Twenty20 tournament is not played here, so we can't be sure how this pitch will play from such a small sample. Whilst the SCG is usually a good pitch to bat on, with something in it for the spinners, this is an end of season track so may be a little slow.

Match Odds

Sunday's victory by Australia was their first Twenty20 win over the West Indies in three attempts and extended their unbeaten sequence this summer. They were caught off guard by Chris Gayle's unorthodox use of two spinners to open the bowling, but they tucked into the quicker bowlers in the middle overs. It should be remembered however, that Twenty20 cricket is Australia's weakest format and conversely West Indies best chance of spoiling the unbeaten run.

Chris Gayle's men got off to a nightmare start, losing four wickets in four overs, but on a relatively placid Sydney pitch, the Aussie quick bowlers should not be such a threat. The West Indies certainly have the ammunition, in the likes of Gayle, Lendl Simmons and Keiron Pollard, and providing their quicker bowlers can keep a tighter line, they must rate an excellent chance of securing a series draw in Sydney, for which they can be backed at [3.1]

Top Batsman

For Australia, the top batsman pick has to be between Shane Watson and David Warner, both of whom are worth backing at [4.5] or better. Michael Clarke plays the anchor role and neither David Hussey nor Cameron White looked in particularly good nick on Sunday.

Gayle is on a run of poor form at the moment, so at typically cramped odds, it might pay to look elsewhere in the West Indies top batsman market. They have a number of destructive batsmen in their line up and perhaps the best of them is Keiron Pollard, who usually bats at four and on his day is one of the best batsmen in Twenty20 cricket. He is worth backing at [6.5] or better.

Featured Market

Whilst the opening partnership for Australia is a solid, Twenty20 is a volatile game and the West Indies openers Gayle and Simmons are capable of blistering form if they are in the right mood. They are worth backing in the highest opening partnership market at [2.25] or higher.

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