Australia (AUS) will be up against West Indies (WI) in the 1st ODI of the West Indies tour of Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on February 2. Australia seems to be in fantastic form in the recent matches in this format as they have simply been unbeatable. West Indies, on the other hand, have been fighting well as they have won three of their last five matches.

Australia had squared off against India in their last game, where Australia won the toss and elected to field. Owing to the brilliance of Rohit Sharma, India started well but initial wickets stopped the run-flow. There were a couple of good knocks from different players but still, they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They were only able to put up a total of 240 runs on the board. Australia, in reply, lost three wickets early and looked in trouble but Travis Head in partnership with Marnus, pulled them out of the mud which led them to winning the game by six wickets.

West Indies played against England in their last match, where West Indies won the toss and elected to field. The match was reduced to 40 overs a side due to the rain and England started horribly keeping the conditions in mind. The lower order tried to save the face for them as they took the team to 206 runs. The rain arrived again and the revised target was 188 runs in 34 overs. After losing a wicket early, the Windies quickly brought themselves back to the senses and put up great partnerships. With 14 balls to spare, they won the game by four wickets.

Also check: AUS vs WI Match Prediction: Who will win today’s match?

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Melbourne Cricket Ground offers a pitch that can be regarded as batting-friendly. Pacers, in particular, enjoy bowling here with a lot of assistance offered from the track. Batters may have a hard time negating the swing here. Teams prefer to bat first here after winning the toss, with the average first innings score being 254.