BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – World champions Australia are taking nothing for granted against West Indies in today’s Tri-Nations final, and captain Steve Smith said yesterday they would be paying special attention to fast bowler Shannon Gabriel and in-form batsman Marlon Samuels.
Gabriel’s hostile three-wicket burst against South Africa on Friday night helped propel West Indies to a 100-run victory in the final preliminary game at Kensington Oval.
The 28-year-old bowled with sustained pace in a five-over opening spell to remove Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and captain AB de Villiers cheaply and Smith said the performance had not gone unnoticed by his side.
“I thought Gabriel was very good. He started well, bowled good pace consistently, put the batters under pressure and took early wickets. It looked like a pretty polished performance by the West Indies,” Smith said here.
Gabriel made his One-Day International debut against Australia last Tuesday, also bowling with pace but picking up just one wicket in the six-wicket defeat.
He has also played 16 Tests, including one in Hobart last December on the Windies three-Test tour Down Under, and Smith said the Trinidadian was now an improved bowler.
“He had capabilities in that series as well. He got the ball through quite nicely, he was probably just a little bit inconsistent [but] he bowled a few good balls,” Smith recalled.
“I remember one where he got Joe Burns [bowled] through the gate with a good ball so he’s certainly got those capabilities in him and obviously the extra pace he’s bringing here – bowling consistently around 145 [kpm] – that hurries you up a little bit and he’s been pretty good in his first two games.”
The right-handed Samuels is the other West Indies player who will engage the Aussies’ attention. He struck a superb 125 against them last Tuesday and also got 92 when the two teams met in St Kitts ten days ago.
Smith said Samuels was a dangerous player who they had discussed in their planning for the game.
“He’s done pretty well so we’ve talked about a few things [regarding] him and he’s got the capabilities as well to be dangerous as we’ve seen, so hopefully we’ll be able to get him out early tomorrow,” Smith stressed.
Australia will also be wary of the regional side’s fighting spirit after watching them twice come back from seemingly disastrous positions, to make over 280 on each occasion.
Against South Africa on Friday, they were slumping on 21 for four before rebounding to tally 285.
“I thought West Indies scrapped really well. Again, we had them three for [31] in our game [last Tuesday] and they managed to get [282] and then yesterday [they were] four for 20 and they got [over] 280 so they scrapped incredibly well to get to that score and that’s always going to be tough to chase,” Smith said.
With the pitch expected to take spin, Australia are set to recall rookie leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who has taken nine wickets from four games in the series.
