Australia v West Indies Preview: Chappell Wary of Windies Threat

Former Australia batsman Ian Chappell believes the depth of the West Indies batting line-up is such that the early scalp of Chris Gayle won't necessarily dictate The Baggy Greens' passage to the T20 World Cup final.

Gayle has scored 144 runs in four innings during the tournament thus far, as he continues to enhance his reputation as cricket's most dominant batsman in the shortened form of the game.

His explosive batting style has the potential to take matches away from the opposition, but come the semi-final in Colombo; Chappell believes too much emphasis on dismissing Gayle could derail the Aussies.

"It's going to help enormously if you can get Gayle quickly and get him cheaply but I don't think that's the end of the game for the West Indies by any means," Chappell told IBTimes UK.

"I mean Marlon Samuels is in very good form, Bravo is a very good player and you've got Pollard and Sammy down the line who are dangerous players.

"It's going to help you to get rid of Gayle but if you think that 'oh we've got Gayle we've virtually won the game' then I think you could be sadly disappointed."

Australia's passage to the semi-final has been down in part to the form of Shane Watson, who is the leading run scorer and wicket taker in the tournament so far.

The 31 year old has been particularly destructive with the bat, scoring three half centuries in five innings while averaging 60 alongside fellow top order batsman David Warner and Michael Hussey.

The importance of the top order was emphasised when both Watson and Warner were dismissed cheaply in the defeat to Pakistan, and Chappell says Australia are relying on them to produce in the knock-out phase

"The one thing Australia have been smart enough to do, and you could say the same about Sri Lanka is that there best three batsman are at the top of the order and I don't see the logic in doing anything else," added the ESPNcricinfo.com contributor.

"You want to give your players the longest opportunity to score runs and I think that's been a smart move from Australia and obviously that Watson himself has scored so much has had a huge impact on Australia.

"In the end you're hoping your top three perform well in the knock-out games otherwise it doesn't matter who the team is if you're top three don't perform so well then you're going to struggle a bit.

"Sri Lanka will have the same problem if their top three don't fire then they're going to have problems. If Gayle doesn't fire for the West Indies, if Samuels doesn't fire for the West Indies they're have problems, so I think it's a common problem but there's nothing much you can do about it because of the nature of the game."

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