West Indies vs Australia 1st ODI Preview & Tips

Australia will fancy their chances against a West Indies side that have often struggled in the longer formats. My best bet is for Australia to win the 1st ODI.

Australia have won four of their last five ODI matches against the West Indies. Their last match took in June 2019 where Australia won by 15 runs.

The West Indies come into this ODI series off the back of a commanding 4-1 win over Australia in the T20 format. Confidence will be high in the hosts’ camp but they come up against a very good Australian side.

West Indies had lost six ODIs in a row until their most recent 3-0 series win over Sri Lanka at home. That series took place in March this year.

Shai Hope had a stellar series, scoring 50+ in all three matches including 110* in the 3rd ODI. He along with Evin Lewis have created a solid opening partnership for the West Indies, something they will heavily rely upon in this series.

The West Indies ODI side is similar to that of the T20 side. There is however no Chris Gayle in this format or Andre Fletcher.

Australia will want to bounce back from their 4-1 T20 series defeat to the West Indies. They have not played ODI cricket since beating India 2-1 at home in December 2020.

Unfortunately for Australia, they are missing some key players who opted out of this tour. Against India, Aaron Finch, Glen Maxwell, Steven Smith and David Warner were in great form, but only Finch is in the current squad.

Mitchell Marsh has however returned to the form he showed when he began his international career. The big allrounder had a superb T20 against the West Indies, scoring 50+ on three occasions and scoring 30+ in four of the five matches.

Australia have not got their best squad available. David Warner, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis are not in the squad.

To make matters worse, captain Aaron Finch is a doubt with a knee injury.