Lara and Ponting have a point to prove

What the stats have to say about the Australia-West Indies Champions Trophy final

04-Nov-2006

Australia and West Indies will clash for the 113th time in ODIs when they meet in the Champions Trophy final at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday. West Indies have a 57-51 edge, but Australia have dominated their recent matches. Cricinfo looks at some of the significant numbers.

Brian Lara: an average of 26.20 in his last ten ODIs against Australia © Getty Images

Australia have unquestionably been the dominant team over the last few years, but West Indies will fancy their chances in the final of the Champions Trophy. For one, the final will be played at the Brabourne Stadium, the venue of West Indies' ten-run win in the group stage of the tournament. Also, they have put it across Australia twice in their last three ODIs. In the last three-and-a-half years, though, Australia hold an 8-5 edge.

Winning the toss is usually an advantage, but that clearly hasn't been the case in this tournament - in 20 matches so far, on 14 occasions the team losing the toss has gone on to win. In the four Champions Trophy matches at the Brabourne Stadium, the team winning the toss has won just once. (That, incidentally, was the game in which West Indies beat Australia by ten runs.)

West Indies' batting fortunes will probably depend considerably on how Brian Lara and Chris Gayle perform. Gayle has been sparkling form in this tournament, but his stats against Australia aren't so impressive - an average of 32.37 from 16 matches. Lara made a crucial 71 in their win against Australia in this tournament, but his recent form against Australia has been disappointing - he averages just 26.20 in his last ten games against them. Ramnaresh Sarwan, too, has struggled against the Australians. Shivnarine Chanderpaul bucks that trend, though - his average of 37.94 against Australia is marginally higher than his career average.

If Lara has disappointed against Australia recently, then the same can be said for Ricky Ponting's last few performances against West Indies - in his last seven completed innings against them, on five occasions Ponting has failed to get into double digits. Adam Gilchrist hasn't enjoyed much success against West Indies either, but Damien Martyn clearly relishes the Caribbean attack - in 14 matches he averages 53.62.

Glenn McGrath has had plenty of success against the West Indians in Tests, but in 28 ODIs against them he has only managed 31 wickets at more than 28 runs per wicket. The bowler who has had their number in ODIs has been Brett Lee, with 32 wickets from 14 games at less than 17 apiece.

Brian Lara Chris Gayle Ricky Ponting Glenn McGrath Brett Lee Adam Gilchrist West Indies Australia ICC Champions Trophy

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo