Cricket Betting: Australia vs West Indies 3rd Test Preview
Australia will have an eye on a series whitewash when they play the West Indies at the historical Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). The match starts on Sunday 3rd January and will usher in the New Year which is eagerly awaited by both the sides for different reasons.
Australia will look to continue their dominance one last time before they embark on overseas Test tours. For the West Indies, the stakes are so low that even if they can pick up ten wickets in an innings, it would be a huge improvement.
The Aussies were expected to roll over their Caribbean counterparts and they have done so with minimum fuss. Credit is due to Steve Smith for motivating the team in the right manner – especially since the victories are a given. The form of Joe Burns and David Warner at the top is a crushing sight for the Windies’ bowlers while Usman Khawaja is continuing his rich vein of form.
The SCG will take more turn than any other ground which means the hosts will start with Steve O’Keefe to assist Nathan Lyon with Peter Siddle struggling to recover from an ankle issue. It would just be the second Test of O’Keefe’s career but he knows the ground like the back of his hand. The selectors have been reluctant to change anything else about the winning combination.
For the West Indies, it is a completely different matter. There seems to be no let-up in what has been an abysmal tour so far. The problems lie elsewhere but the performance on the ground is no more comforting. Jason Holder continues to look as if he has been thrown to the wolves.
The non-performance of senior pros Marlon Samuels and Dinesh Ramdin is hurting the visitors the most. Darren Bravo continues to fight hard but has had little support. The bowling has been no better either with the West Indians failing to take more than four wickets in any of the three innings they bowled thus far.
To say that Australia will win is just stating the obvious but watch out for rain as it remains the only hope for the visitors of surviving the whitewash. Rain is forecast at different times during the first four days of play, so expect the Aussies to be aggressive to chase a victory. Be a little cheeky and put your money on the Draw at odds of $2.80 at CrownBet. Bravo should continue to be the Windies’ top scorer in the first innings so we’re happy to back him at $3.40 at CrownBet. Usman Khawaja’s form is impeccible at the moment, so we’ll stick with him at $4.25 at CrownBet to be Australia’s leading run scorer in the 1st innings.
