The Caribbean T20 caravan continues onto its next leg of action-packed entertainment as hosts West Indies face off against their Australian counterparts in a 5-match series. The event gets underway from 9 July at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St. Lucia. Here’s a preview of the Darren Sammy National Stadium’s pitch report and records analysis for the first WI vs AUS T20.
Hosts West Indies will still be hurting from the 3-2 series loss they endured against South Africa a few days back. Despite having some of their most experienced campaigners playing together, it’s quite clear that the playing XI as a whole still hasn’t found its rhythm as a group. This is a problem captain Kieron Pollard would be eager to address, which could force him to make some surprising omissions to play a more balanced team.
Australia’s last international cricket assignment dates back to March 2021 in a T20I series against New Zealand. In the interim, several of their players got to feature in the cut-short 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). But even then, the majority of their players arrive into the series with a four-month lay-off. Not to mention, several of the country’s first-choice players have made themselves unavailable. Suffice to say, captain Aaron Finch- the only player in the squad to have over 50 T20I caps- will have his leadership and batting duties cut out.
Darren Sammy National Stadium T20 Records
Unlike the Stadium in Grenada, where the series against South Africa was played, the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground has a slightly better record for teams batting second. The ground has traditionally been a low-scoring venue, with the average first and second innings scores reading 137 and 124 respectively. Here’s a comprehensive run-down of the Darren Sammy National Stadium’s T20 stats.
STATS – T20
| Total matches | 23 |
| Matches won batting first | 10 |
| Matches won bowling first | 13 |
| Average 1st Inns scores | 137 |
| Average 2nd Inns scores | 124 |
| Highest total recorded | 197/7 (19.5 Ov) by AUS vs PAK |
| Lowest total recorded | 72/10 (20 Ov) by BANW vs SLW |
| Highest score chased | 197/7 (19.5 Ov) by AUS vs PAK |
| Lowest score defended | 97/7 (20 Ov) by SLW vs BANW |
Darren Sammy National Stadium Pitch Report
4 out of the top 10 wicket-takers on this ground happen to be spinners; 2 of whom even managed to feature in the top three. The ground has a lot of support for bowlers trying to turn the ball. Of the players involved in the current series, Australia’s Daniel Christian and West Indies’ Sheldon Cotrell stand out as the leading bowlers with 3-wickets-each to their names. Given the slow and low-scoring nature of the surface, the captain winning the toss would most likely prefer to bowl first.
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St Lucia Weather Report For AUS vs WI T20
The outfield is expected to be fairly cloudy, with chances of precipitation reading 20%. There is also going to be considerable humidity in the air (74%). Thankfully, despite all those factors, chances of rain interrupting the live game are almost negligible, allowing fans to enjoy a good game of cricket.