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West Indies vs Australia, Tri-Nation Series 2016, Final at Barbados: Likely XI for Steven Smith and Co.

Australia face West Indies in the final of the Tri-Nation Series 2016 on Sunday having a 2-1 psychological advantage heading into the affair.

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© AFP
Australia hold a 2-1 advantage over West Indies © AFP

Australia face a buoyancy West Indies team in the final of the Tri-Nation Series 2016 at Bridgetown, Barbados. Australia are coming off from a comprehensive victory against their fellow finalists in the last match they played a few days ago. West Indies on the other hand defeated a lack luster South Africa side in a virtual semi-final on Friday night, winning the tie by 100 runs. Australia will hope to continue their winning streak against the hosts and round off a memorable tour of the Caribbean. Steven Smith will not want to see Australia get complacence and get their foot off the pedal in what seems to a mouth-watering affair on Sunday night. Vishal Mehra, takes a look on how the playing XI for Australia could pan out. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: West Indies vs Australia, Tri-Nation Series 2016 Final at Brabados

Top Order: It will again be the trusted duo of Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch, who will take on the opening responsibilities for Australia in final. Khawaja has been consistence with the bat so far in this series amassing 203 runs in 6 games. Khawaja will want to finish the series with a bang and mark this place his own in the absence of David Warner. Finch on the other hand has been in hot-cold form (more cold than hot) but has provided Australia quick fire starts at times. He will want to partner Khawaja and diminish any hope of West Indies victory from the outset. Skipper Steven Smith has been the go to batsmen for the men from Down Under. Smith so far has accumulated 218 runs best only to Marlon Samuels and Hashim Amla. If Australia has to win the final by a comfortable manner it is imperative for Smith to put his best foot forward.

Middle Order: Australian middle order time and again have managed to get their team past victory line from a stage where they could have been in spot of bother. George Bailey has been a pillar of strength for his team helping other batsmen play their own game by occupying the pitch. Glenn Maxwell played a blistering 46* run knock against the same opponent and will look to carry on his new find form here as well. Mitchell Marsh was the star in Australia’s victory over West Indies the last time these two team met and will want to rekindle his batting brilliance in the final match. Matthew Wade so far in the tournament has been a big disappoint with his batting skills in the limited chances he has got. What he has done well is participate in sledging on the field, which is always helpful in crunch situations.

Bowling: Australia bowling duties has been lead by the spin-pace duo of Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc. Starc has picked up 8 wickets in the four matches he has played and has been economical after coming back from a long layoff from international cricket. Starc has been well supported by Josh Hazlewood, who has picked up wickets at crucial junctions with an overall tally of 6 wickets to his name. Scott Boland who played in the last match will likely be replaced by Zampa. Zampa has 9-wickets to his name in just 4 matches. It will surely be interesting to see which spinner will have the final laugh after the end of the Tri-Nation series — Zampa or Sunil Narine. James Faulkner could be replaced by Nathan Lyon who picked up 3 wickets in the first game these two teams’ met in the series. The duo of Lyon and Zampa will surely be a threat for the West Indian batsmen.

Australia likely XI: Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (c), George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa 

(Vishal Mehra is a reporter at CricketCountry, who enjoys his weekly dose of anime, and plays cricket once a white moon. His twitter handle is @capturethecatch )

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