Australia v West Indies: World Cup betting preview, TV channel, team news & tips

TV: Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 10.30am Thursday

Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Australia and the West Indies have won seven of the first 11 Cricket World Cups and both have made promising starts to the 12th tournament.

The Aussies followed up warm-up wins over the Windies and England with an easy victory against Afghanistan.

However, the 1-2 favourites face a serious test at Trent Bridge, where the Windies fast bowlers routed Pakistan for 105 last week.

With aggressive quick bowlers and brutal hitters in both camps, these cricketing powerhouses could produce a cracking contest in Nottingham.

Best bets
Less than 12 months ago, Australia conceded a record total of 481-6 against England at Trent Bridge but much has changed for the Aussies since that humiliation.

Only four members of the chastened 11 that day made the World Cup squad and an attack spearheaded by Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins is unlikely to suffer a similar fate in Nottingham.

The new-ball pair dismissed both Afghanistan openers for ducks in their first game and Cummins returned to clean up the tail, finishing with 3-40.

Australia have come to expect those kind of figures from the brilliant right-armer, who took 4-29, 3-37, 5-70, 2-38 and 3-23 against India and Pakistan in his last five ODIs before this tournament.

Cummins claimed seven scalps in two games against New Zealand in Brisbane, dismissed Windies star Shai Hope in the warm-up win at the Hampshire Bowl, and looks value to be top Australia wicket-taker once again.

David Warner is favourite to top-score for Australia after his calm unbeaten 89 in the victory over Afghanistan but it could be worth digging deeper into the Windies top batsman market.

Hope has looked in lovely touch at the top of the order, Chris Gayle cracked a 33-ball fifty in the romp against Pakistan, and youngster Nicholas Pooran hit four fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 34.

At 22, Shimron Hetmyer is a year younger than Pooran but he has already hit four ODI centuries, including tons against England in February and India last October.

All four of those innings were scored at a strike-rate of 125 or higher and he also scored 94 off 64 deliveries against India in Visakhapatnam.

Hetmyer signed off his IPL campaign with 75 off 47 for Bangalore against a classy Hyderabad bowling unit and the middle-order man is a tempting price to top-score given Australia’s new-ball threat.

Recommendations
P Cummins top Australia wicket-taker
2pts 100-30 bet365
S Hetmyer top West Indies runscorer
1pt 6-1 bet365, RedZone

Team news
Australia
The Aussies could be unchanged after their comfortable win over Afghanistan so Finch and Warner will open with Usman Khawaja coming in at number three.

West Indies
Andre Russell should be fit despite a knee problem but the all-rounder is likely to be used in short, sharp bowling spells.

Venue
The Windies’ fast bowlers hit the pitch hard as they bounced out Pakistan for 105 at Trent Bridge last week.

However, the venue is renowned as a batting paradise and England lost a high-scoring game against Pakistan on Monday despite centuries from Joe Root and Jos Buttler.

Weather
Sunny and dry, 18C.

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