The Australians may well be cursing the inclement weather as they had looked in control at the break. Anchored by half-centuries from Liam Scott and Cooper Connolly, the Australians put 319 for 8 on the board. Matthew Patrick was the pick of the Windies bowlers after claiming 3 for 43.
In pursuit, the West Indies began briskly with openers Kimani Melius and Leonardo Julien scoring 62 runs in 12.3 overs. Melius was dismissed for 39 but no more play was possible when the skies opened up after the player left the field and the rain never let up. The situation forced the umpires to call off the match. The Windies ended with a run rate of 4.96, which was behind the required Australia rate of 6.88.
According to tournament rules, in case of a washed-out knockout game, the team that finished higher on points at the end of the group stage would finish higher. West Indies were unbeaten in Group B, while Australia had lost to West Indies.
Both teams will enter the match-up at opposite ends of the spectrum so to speak. While the West Indies have looked in splendid form after wins over Nigeria, Australia and England, New Zealand barely made their way into the final eight. The Kiwis managed just a solitary win in three games. After no play was possible in their first fixture against Japan, due to rain, New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka but we then defeated by India. Despite the differences in results to date, West insists the Caribbean team is taking nothing for granted.
“Most of the performances last week were very pleasing but now we are in the knockout stage and it’s about your performance in the last three games of the tournament, rather than the first three games,” West said.
“Certainly, New Zealand are always a very competitive team outstanding in the field and quite creative in terms of their batting and their bowling. They played a reduced overs game against India and at one point they were 100 for 1 off 10 overs with their positive intent at the top of the order. They fell away as spinners took hold but certainly it’s a warning to us in terms of the approach that they have and we’re going to have to match that.”
