Australia’s think tank would have kept a watchful eye on Bangladesh’s victory over Nepal in Kingstown as the team begins preparing for the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup.
Mitchell Marsh’s men will face Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India during the next stage of the tournament, realistically needing at least two wins to qualify for the semi-finals.
Afghanistan and Australia will lock horns at St Vincent’s Arnos Vale Ground on Sunday morning AEST, with the winner potentially progressing through to the semi-finals should other matches play out as expected.
However, the Australians are already wary of the treacherous Kingstown surface, where spin bowlers have been wreaking havoc throughout the tournament.
Nepal almost pulled off an upset victory over South Africa during the group stage last week, with spinners taking 13 of the 14 wickets.
The associate nation then bowled out Bangladesh for 106 at the same venue on Monday morning, with most of the wickets again falling to spin, while Tigers leggie Rishad Hossain unearthed comical amounts of turn during the run chase.
Arnos Vale Ground has hosted five men’s T20Is to date, with spinners taking 41 wickets at 14.29 while seamers have 25 scalps at 24.40.
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“I’ve just been looking at the wickets, the surfaces that we’re going to come up against,” Australian selector George Bailey said this week, as reported by News Corp.
“In St Vincent, the ball was spinning between five to seven degrees off the middle of the wicket.
“Deep in a tournament, when the same grounds are being used a lot, we’re starting to see some wickets that are starting to show a bit of fatigue in the West Indies.”
Afghanistan has a trio of world-class spinners at their disposal, with Big Bash League stars Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed and Mohammad Nabi set to take on the Australians this weekend.
The two nations have only met once before in the game’s shortest format — Afghanistan almost caused a massive boilover against Australia during the previous edition of the T20 World Cup, falling short by four runs at Adelaide Oval.
Australia might consider adding Ashton Agar, who claimed 1-39 against Scotland on Friday, to the starting XI for the Afghanistan match at the expense of Mitchell Starc, who has been nursing a sore calf throughout the group stage, while Glenn Maxwell’s off-spin could be crucial.
Meanwhile, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh might be available as an additional pace option depending on his recovery from a hamstring injury he sustained during the Indian Premier League.
“Every wicket (in the West Indies) has the tendency to turn at some stage,” Australian opener Travis Head told reporters on Sunday.
“We’ve seen that most of the wickets have played differently to what people expected in certain situations.
“You’ve still got to sum it up, you’ve still got to play on it.
“Let’s see what we get.”
Australia will next face Bangladesh at Antigua’s Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Friday, with the first ball scheduled for 10.30am AEST.
T20 World Cup Super Eight Fixtures
Thursday, 20 June at 12.30am — USA vs South Africa, North Sound, Antigua
Thursday, 20 June at 10.30am — England vs West Indies, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Friday, 21 June at 12.30am — Afghanistan vs India, Bridgetown, Barbados
Friday, 21 June at 10.30am — Australia v Bangladesh, North Sound, Antigua
Saturday, 22 June at 12.30am — England v South Africa, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Saturday, 22 June at 10.30am — USA v West Indies, Bridgetown, Barbados
Sunday, 23 June at 12.30am — India v Bangladesh, North Sound, Antigua
Sunday, 23 June at 10.30am — Afghanistan v Australia, Arnos Vale, St Vincent
Monday, 24 June at 12.30am — USA v England, Bridgetown, Barbados
Monday, 24 June at 10.30am — West Indies v South Africa, North Sound, Antigua
Tuesday, 25 June at 12.30am — Australia v India, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Tuesday, 25 June at 10.30am — Afghanistan v Bangladesh, Arnos Vale, St Vincent
Thursday, 27 June at 10.30am — 1st Semi-final
Friday, 28 June at 12.30am — 2nd Semi-final
Sunday, 30 June at 12.30am — Final
* All times AEST