Match suspended due to Covid-19
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"All the members, players and match officials will be re-tested today and a decision on when the match will be replayed will be made at a later date once the test results are known. They will remain in isolation in their hotel rooms until their PCR-Test results are returned" is the latest from Cricket West Indies. Quite unfortunate and sad, we have to exit the comm box without a ball being bowled due to the unexpected turn of events in the last 30 minutes. Keep checking this space for all the latest and until next time, we - Raju Peethala, Nikhil Jadhav, Kumar Abhisekh Das along with our scorer Harish - bid goodbye on a sombre note. Stay safe and take great care of yourself. See you soon!!
Alright, here's an official update from Cricket West Indies: "The second ODI between West Indies and Australia has been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test result from a non-playing member of the West Indies staff. This decision was taken after the toss at Kensington Oval once the result was known. The established COVID-19 protocols stipulate that all members of both teams and match officials will return immediately to the team hotel and will be re-tested later today. ."
15:00 Local, 05:00 am Canberra time: Not the ideal news to wake up to, but what an unfortunate turn of events. The toss was done, teams out and just as we were about to see players stride out of the dressing rooms, Samuel Badree on commentary mentioned that "it's delayed due to an operational issue" but none saw this coming. It's highly likely that the final ODI might get cancelled and remember, Australia are set to arrive in Dhaka on 29th this month for a five-match T20I series against Bangladesh. Ian Bishop, part of the host broadcast team, has just tweeted this: "Unfortunate. Its the risk taken in these testing times. Hope the person is not to. Adversely affected."
Pradeep Mehra: There should be more strict Covid protocols, we cannot afford more suspensions of matches, hope all the team players are healthy
14:42 local - BREAKING: Uh-oh! We didn't see this coming. The second ODI has been suspended. Apparently there's a positive Covid-19 case which caused the trouble and we are hearing that both teams, including members and support staff, will go into isolation with immediate effect.
14:31 local: We are hearing that there is a bit of a delay due to operational issues. Should be a quick one. More updates as and when we have it....
Pitch report: Expect about 30 percent chance of rain. We move three pitches to the West and that will impact the boundaries, square boundaries hitting into the wind and one side it will be easier. It's brown (the surface) in color and still very dry. The grass covering is quite patchy, bowlers will have a significant advantage and we expect this will provide a lot of entertainment," reckons Daren Ganga.
Kieron Pollard: It's just a matter of trying to fix what went wrong and hopefully we can come in and give a better account of ourselves. It's a game of cricket and we have lots of discussions and not too much of a disappointment two days on. One change. Hetmyer misses out and Hope comes in and hopefully he continue the form he's in for the last 18 months.
Alex Carey: We gonna bat again today, looks a similar track to the first one. Nice to get off to a good start, obviously we move on pretty quickly and we know West Indies are gonna comeback strong. We have got one change and nice opportunity for Riley to come in fresh and we are all excited as he is making his debut. Wes (Agar) is out.
One change for both teams: For West Indies, Shai Hope is all set to play his first white-ball game since March 2021. He replaces Shimron Hetmyer who, we assume, has been rested. The visitors, though, have another debutant in store today. The fiery Riley Meredith is all set to become Australia's 234th ODI cap, replacing Wes Agar who debuted in the first game.
Teams:
West Indies (Playing XI): Evin Lewis, Shai Hope(w), Darren Bravo, Jason Mohammed, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard(c), Jason Holder, Hayden Walsh, Sheldon Cottrell, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hosein
Australia (Playing XI): Josh Philippe, Ben McDermott, Mitchell Marsh, Moises Henriques, Alex Carey(w/c), Ashton Turner, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Riley Meredith, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Australia have won the toss and have opted to bat
13:30 local, 03:30 am Canberra time: Hello and welcome to the penultimate game of Australia's tour of West Indies. It's the second ODI and the scoreline of white-ball games thus far read 4-2 in favour of the Windies. There's also that crucial Super League points at stake. It's all to play for here at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown in Barbados as we expect a decent, few interruptions throughout the course of the game, thanks to the dodgy weather. There's still some time before the much-anticipated toss, so why not indulge in the wonderfully-compiled preview by our very own Bharat Sundaresan. And yes, the HaveYourSay section is up and running, fire away....
Preview by Bharat Sundaresan
It might have been a relatively insignificant moment in the overall narrative of Australia's tour of the Caribbean so far. But when Mitchell Starc roared in delight, and a tinge of angst, while pumping his fists, after bowling the fifth ball of the final over of the fourth T20I, it didn't just mean that the visitors had their first win of the series. It was also the premier left-arm pacer letting out all the steam that had built up during a forgettable home summer and carrier on into the early part of the West Indies tour. Not to forget the fact that he had started to feel like himself again.
Starc was his trademark menacing self when the touring party moved from St Lucia to Barbados for the ODI leg of the trip. And as he ripped out the home team's top order before polishing off the tail, you could see that both the strike bowler and his team seemed a lot more settled in their own skin. Starc's five-wicket haul may have ensured a rather quick victory for the Aussies. Their performance in the opening ODI, save the late order collapse courtesy their nemesis Hayden Walsh Jr, was also a sign of just how comfortable they are playing the 50-over version as compared to the shortest format in international cricket.
In stark contrast, Australia's first match at the Kensington Oval in five years also exposed just how uncomfortable the West Indians can be in the 50-over format, especially when they have to play without their most prolific performer, Shai Hope. Yes, they didn't quite have the star quality of their T20I outfit, but the West Indians didn't look like the team who had dominated their opponents, who if anything had been beleaguered further with the loss of regular skipper Aaron Finch, in the earlier leg of the tour.
Australia seemed to come to terms with the tempo of the match and the conditions better. That meant that they seemed hooked on to a better rhythm through major chunks of the contest led by stand-in captain Alex Carey. The South Australian steadied the innings with a classical rear-guard effort in the middle-overs and was allowed to do so as a result of Ashton Turner's muscle towards the latter half of their partnership.
The West Indies on the other hand were never allowed to even get their run-chase out of neutral, forget pressing the foot on the accelerator thanks to the burst from Starc and Josh Hazlewood. And despite Kieron Pollard's high-octane half-century, the West Indians only lasted six more overs than the maximum quota they'd get in a T20I. Their approach pretty much told you the story of their collapse. That even the likes of Darren Bravo and Jason Mohammed, the two batsmen expected to play the Hope role, fell to extravagant attempts at playing a shot, was another tell-tale of how they simply didn't show up to play the ODI, quite literally.
The second ODI as a result won't just be about the hosts trying to claw their way back into the series but also getting their ODI act together. As for the Aussies and Carey, who looks set to continue at the helm in the absence of Finch, it's about taking the lead from Starc and not taking their foot off the gas.
When: Friday, July 23, 2021, 00:00 IST
Where: West Indies v Australia, 2nd ODI, Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
What to expect: The only good part about the West Indies' poor performance with the bat was the match finishing well on time. It didn't look like it will after the multiple rain breaks during the Australian innings due to rain. The forecast for Thursday evening around Bridgetown is once again for clouds above and close to a 40 per cent chance of rain in the air. So expect a few interruptions.
Team News:
West Indies: The West Indians are still riddled with injuries and unless they look to bring in one of their two inexperienced seamers, Romario Shepherd or Anderson Phillip, they're likely to stick to their playing XI from the first match.
Likely XI: Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Darren Bravo, Jason Mohammed, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hosein, Hayden Walsh Jr, Sheldon Cottrell
Australia: The same goes for Australia with Finch still unlikely to take the field. Having got the debut nerves out of the way, the onus will be on the likes of Josh Phillipe and Ben McDermott to make the most of their second chances while Wes Agar looks to build on his strong maiden performance.
Likely XI: Josh Phillipe, Ben McDermott, Mitchell Marsh, Moises Henriques, Alex Carey (c/wk), Ashton Turner, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Wes Agar, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Squads:
Australia Squad: Josh Philippe, Ben McDermott, Mitchell Marsh, Moises Henriques, Alex Carey(w/c), Ashton Turner, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Daniel Christian, Jason Behrendorff, Andrew Tye, Mitchell Swepson, Wes Agar, Riley Meredith
West Indies Squad: Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Mohammed, Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran(w), Kieron Pollard(c), Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Hayden Walsh, Akeal Hosein, Sheldon Cottrell, Fabian Allen, Shai Hope, Anderson Phillip, Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd