Dubai
A team packed with destructive T20 players, the West Indies cut a sorry figure in the two warm-up matches against Pakistan and Afghanistan, and would need to quickly shrug off the disappointment ahead of its tournament proper.
West Indies will need the likes of Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran to fire with the bat. All-rounders Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell would be keen to dominate in both departments while Oshane Thomas and Ravi Rampaul are expected to lead the bowling attack.
England will be itching to put the ghosts of the 2016 edition to rest, when Carlos Brathwaite had smashed four successive sixes in the final to end its dreams. The Eoin Morgan-captained England seems a balanced side despite missing some key players in all-rounder Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran.
Australia meets South Africa
Australia would hope that its lacklustre top-order fires from the word go when it open its T20 World Cup run against an under-the-radar South African side, playing without the usual burden of pressure, in a ‘Super 12’ Group 1 match in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Australia, which is hunting for its maiden T20 title, enters the tournament on the back of a horrific run, losing bilateral series to Bangladesh, the West Indies, New Zealand, India and England. Many first-choice team members skipped the recent white-ball tours, during which Australia managed just five wins and lost 13 matches.
Hence, most of the Australia players have had scant preparation in national colours. South Africa will enter the match high on spirits, having emerged victorious in three consecutive series against West Indies, Ireland and Sri Lanka as well as in both the practice matches.
While the Australia-South Africa match will begin at 3:30 pm IST, the West Indies-England fixture will start at 7:30 pm IST.
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android