Semi final preview: Australia vs West Indies

Host nation Sri Lanka has qualified for Sunday's final, but who will they face in Colombo? We take an in-depth look at tonight's semi-final to find out.

Route to the Semi finals:

Australia: Australia flew through the group stage, defeating Ireland and the West Indies. They continued this form against South Africa and India before hitting a Pakistan-shaped speed bump in their final Super Eights match. The common denominator in Australia's victories being one Shane Watson.

West Indies: Had a bumpier run, progressing to the Super Eights stage without winning a match after a washed out game against Ireland. Opened their account with a win over England before a disastrous effort against Sri Lanka. The Windies squeaked through to the semi's after a super over win over New Zealand.

Head-to-head:

Batting: These teams have a certain similarity in they way they line-up. Both have their absolute match-winners at the top of the order, and hope that the performances of those players can protect a suspect middle order. Australia's top order is in much better form at the moment, but the West Indian middle order looks steadier than Australia's, especially against spin. Verdict: Australia, just.

Bowling: Where the batting line-ups were similar, the bowling attacks are quite different. Australia has five genuine wicket-taking bowlers, as well as a few part-time spin options. Their approach for most of the tournament has been to restrict runs by bowling sides out which has worked in most situations, except notably against the West Indies. The West Indies attack is more focused on containing batting line-ups, which has had mixed results and isn't great when defending a small total. Verdict: Advantage Australia

In the field: Both teams have been pretty good in the field, both in terms of stopping runs and taking opportunities. Australia have a few players who have had some bad moments (Glenn Maxwell I'm looking at you), while the West Indies has players that are brilliant in the field as well as those that are somewhat sloppy. Verdict: Even.

X-factor: The West Indies have a clear advantage here if such a thing exists. In Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard they have two players who have the potential to make the game un-winnable for Australia if they get going. Australia on the other hand rely on more garden-variety brilliance such as Warner and Hussey's. Verdict: Advantage West Indies

At selection:

Australia (probable): David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, George Bailey (capt), Cameron White, Glenn Maxwell/David Hussey, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Brad Hogg, Xavier Doherty

West Indies (probable): Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree, Ravi Rampaul.

Forgotten man David Hussey is a potential inclusion for Australia, although both teams have been pretty settled throughout the entire tournament. The West Indies will most likely take their two spinners, Narine and Badree, into the match given what happened in Australia's last game.

Result:

The form line would seem to suggest Australia, but the thing about T20 cricket is that form is completely irrelevant. One performance from one player can win the game for their team, and the West Indies have the players who can turn on match-winning performances out of no-where. Another possible advantage for the Windies is the pitch. Australia played mostly on pace friendly wickets early in the tournament and looked brilliant, but came unstuck quickly on a turning pitch. And if last night's game is anything to go by that's exactly what we'll get tonight. The good news for Australia though is that the West Indian spinners aren't Ajantha Mendis or Harbhajan Singh, nor have they been playing well. If Australia avoid a Gayle/Pollard type blinder they will win this match, as they have more players playing consistently well.