CAN ANYONE STOP THE AUSSIES?
BEN HORNE’S form guide highlights the game that could define the T20 World Cup
AUSTRALIA
THE defending Twenty20 World Cup champions have selected virtually the same squad 12 months on, which is for the most part a sign of strength. Australia boasts a balanced and experienced line-up, boosted by the addition of T20 monster hitter Tim David in the middle-order.
But the one clear drawback for Australia (at this stage), is the fact its best player at the moment isn’t in the squad. Cameron Green has been in superb form and if teams weren’t forced to select their squads so far out from the tournament, the 23-year-old would now be impossible to leave out.
Captain Aaron Finch has played himself back into form which is a huge relief on the eve of the event, but concerns remain over the fitness of Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis who are yet to prove they can bowl just two weeks out from the opening match against New Zealand.
NNPrediction: There’s few tougher assignments in cricket than going backto-back at a T20 World Cup – hence why it’s never been done before. An element of luck is needed as well as execution in cricket’s most random format. But home advantage will be massive for Australia and it should make the final.
INDIA
FINCH and every opening batsman in world cricket would have breathed a sigh of relief when fast bowling superstar Jasprit Bumrah was scratched from the tournament, in a monumental blow to India’s prospects.
It robs India of its No.1 wickettaking weapon – but it is not lacking in replacement arsenal.
In the supreme batting conditions Australian pitches allow, it’s scary to think what the likes of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya – and of course Virat Kohli – are capable of.
The hitting ability in this team is ridiculous and India will be smarting after its sub-standard performance at last year’s T20 World Cup.
India’s date with Pakistan in front of a sold out MCG shapes as a battle for the ages at sport’s greatest coliseum, and the momentum the winner takes from that match could shape the entire tournament.
NNPrediction: Favourites to win the tournament and should be there on final night to battle Australia.
ENGLAND
AFTER the horror of last year’s Ashes tour, England arrives with an Australian in charge. Matthew Mott, the mastermind of the Australian women’s team, is calling the shots in the England white-ball set-up and has an enormous task with the country’s most successful limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan now retired.
England is a white-ball force and has performed strongly in recent T20 World Cups. The likes of Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Chris Jordan, Alex Hales and David Willey have plenty of experience on Australian pitches in the Big Bash League which can’t be underestimated as a factor. NNPrediction: Will make the semis.
PAKISTAN
WAS arguably the best team at last year’s World Cup, only for Matthew Wade and Marcus Stoinis to snatch the win in an epic semi-final. That’s the way with T20 cricket, but nothing has changed in the sense Pakistan remains strong in this format.
Conditions in Australia may not suit as much as they did in Dubai, but this is a world-class outfit. Babar Azam is arguably the premier batsman in international cricket and the pace bowling attack led by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf is an ominous proposition for opposition teams on fast decks.
NNPrediction: More semi-final pain for Pakistan.
SOUTH AFRICA
ACCORDING to Fox Cricket expert Mark Waugh, South Africa is the big sleeper in this tournament and could end their torment in World Cups once and for all. The key is an exceptional bowling line-up which should thrive in the conditions. In Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, South Africa possesses the firepower to rock any team, and spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj provide a nice counter balance.
The concern with the Proteas will be their batting.
NNPrediction: One of the great hoodoos in world sport will not be broken in Australia.
NEW ZEALAND
THE epitome of consistency in world cricket, NZ can never be dismissed lightly and will benefit greatly from the fast and bouncy conditions.
Trent Boult is a T20 superstar and will get early wickets that will put the Black Caps right in the frame.
Admittedly it was 50-over cricket and not T20s, but there was a slightly pedestrian feel to the NZ batting last month when they failed to fire against Australia up in Cairns and this will be the team’s great challenge, with a lot riding on the captain Kane Williamson. Can the Kiwis find that extra gear that the heavyweights can? NNPrediction: The Black Caps are off the pace and will fall short of semis.
WEST INDIES
IT’S very much a new-look West Indies T20 outfit contesting this World Cup, with selectors making the brave call to leave veteran superstars like Andre Russell in the past and pick a team for the future.
But the 2012 and 2016 T20 world champions always offer something in this format and cannot be taken lightly. Captain Nicholas Pooran is world class, but at the forefront of the Windies hopes will be exciting fast bowler Alzarri Joseph. The big quick should be a serious proposition.
NNPrediction: Have a big scalp in them this World Cup but will lack the consistency to progress past the group stage.
SRI LANKA
AN ABSOLUTE wildcard here, not least of all because Chris Silverwood’s team still needs to qualify for the main draw.
Sri Lanka showed by upstaging big brothers India and Pakistan to win the recent Asia Cup that it is a team on the rise. But the problem is Sri Lanka’s ranking is so low it must first fight its way out of a pool featuring minnows Ireland, Namibia and the Netherlands to even make it into the Super 12 stage of the tournament.
In all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka boasts a T20 leggie of rare class and Kusal Mendis is more than capable of anchoring an innings. NNPrediction: Shape as potential giant-killers but the conditions will stand in their way of progressing past the group stage.
BANGLADESH
FOREVER improving, Bangladesh is undoubtedly a top-tier nation and can trouble the best teams on their day. However, a World Cup on Australian soil is a particularly big challenge for this outfit.
The side had lost 10 of its last 13 T20 internationals before making huge changes to its squad, with a clear shift towards youth over experience.
Bangladesh has gone pace heavy with a fast bowling arsenal led by Mustafizur Rahman.
NNPrediction: Will struggle.
AFGHANISTAN
WHAT an opportunity it is for BBL superstars Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi to shine for their country at grounds where they have made their names as giants of the game.
Afghanistan will be up against it in a tournament so far from home, but there is a fairytale feel about this team and there is the sniff of a high-profile upset in the air. The world’s premier T20 spinner, Rashid facing off against the Australians at his spiritual home Adelaide Oval shapes as a highlight. NNPrediction: Don’t rule out an upset against NZ in Melbourne, but group stage only.