Up-and-down Australia face must-win situation

Tue, Jun 21, '16

The wash-out between Australia and South Africa in Barbados on Sunday has left all three teams still in with a chance of reaching the tri-series final. Two round-robin games remain - West Indies against Australia on Tuesday and West Indies against South Africa on Friday. Should Jason Holder's men defeat Australia on Tuesday, the final will be settled - West Indies would play South Africa, and Australia would go home.

But if Steven Smith's team prevails, Australia will be guaranteed of a place in the final and West Indies and South Africa would play off for the other spot on Friday. And despite South Africa's two bonus points, it would be a straight shoot-out, because the tri-series rules state that number of wins takes precedence if teams are equal on points. A West Indian win on Friday would put them level with South Africa on points, but with one more win.

The upshot is that this game is must-win for Australia, but not for West Indies. Like all three sides in this tournament, Australia have been up and down throughout. The likely presence of Mitchell Starc is a potential key - his workload has been managed throughout the series and Australia have only lost the matches in which he did not play. His ability to swing the white ball could well turn a chase - West Indies' preferred option is always to bat second.