International Cricket: West Indies vs. Australia 7/20/21 ODI Cricket Prediction

Australia’s tour of the West Indies continues tomorrow, Tuesday July 20th, 2021 at 2:30pm EST with the first ODI match in the 3-match series being played at Kensington Oval, Barbados.

West Indies completely dominated Australia in the T20I series, albeit without many of the Aussies superstars that ultimately proved to be a downfall for them. Australia are the number 3 ranked side and that will be an encouragement for them going into this series but West Indies will be confident about their chances especially with the winning energy they currently possess.

Australia do not seem to be able to catch a break on this tour, Ashton Agar and Ben McDermott missed the second half of the T20I series due to injury and now captain Aaron Finch is being monitored ahead of tomorrow’s encounter with a knee injury. Matthew Wade will most likely lead the side if Finch is unable to play but with the absence of their many of their players, Australia and their captain will be praying that he is good to go for the first match. This tour from an Australian standpoint cannot be spoken about without mentioning the all-round brilliance of Mitchell Marsh who, for most the part, has been the reason Australia were in the battles. He will be imploring to his peers to step up and be accountable going into the day-night match but will his efforts fall on deaf ears or will they adhere to his words?

West Indies are feeling pretty good right about now after an impressive showing in the T20I series, coupled with the fact that their captain, Kieron Pollard, will be set to play tomorrow. Windies vice-captain Shai Hope will lead the batting side, he has been ultra-efficient when it comes to this format and his opponents are well aware of that. Evin Lewis, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran will also be looked at for the batting impetus that is need to post high scores. Jason Holder returns to the side after a well-deserved rest, the all-rounder adds value to the lower order in the batting department while being the go-to bowler for the Windies. Alzarri Jospeh along with Sheldon Cottrell are the pacers within the side, their lines and lengths have to be spot on if they are to make any early inroads into the Aussies batting. Can the Windies start this series as well as they finished the last?

A thrilling tour this has been thus far between the two sides. Australia have put the last series behind them and are now seeking to find that winning formula again. West Indies have been the superior team but will their dominance stop tomorrow? I believe it will not, although Australia are the better ODI side in general, West Indies have the stronger team this go around which makes for an interesting battle but ultimately it will end with a Windies victory.