|
|
| CricketZone.Com | IndiaExpress.Com ApunKaChoice.Com |
 |
|
NEWS India-Australia-West Indies Tri-Series>Windies brace themselves for the final against Aussies 23rd Sept 2006 20.57 IST By Agencies The West Indies will seek a rare title triumph when they cross swords with Australia in the final of the cricket tri-series on Sunday, fully aware that the brittle batting line-up needs to put up a far more inspired show. The middle-order batsmen have failed in all the matches of the series and captain Brian Lara is hoping that his tough words will have some impact on his off-colour batsmen in the crucial day and night encounter at the Kinrara Oval.
However, the team pulled off a shock victory against Australia in the league match to secure a place in the final. The Australians, on the other hand, are in no mood to take their rivals lightly as they are keen to go into next month's Champions Trophy with a title under their belt. The Champions Trophy is one title which has eluded the Australians and Ricky Ponting and his men are determined to lay their hands on that cup this time around. Although the Aussies have experimented with their players in this tournament, it remains to be seen whether they will pick their best eleven for tomorrow's game. The world champions have not been too convincing in their performance in this series and managed to clinch a berth in the final after a slender 18-run victory over India yesterday. The Caribbeans will be heavily relying on the genius of Brian Lara to win the match and the elegant left-hander has shown that he is in good form. But the form of some of his other top batsmen has not really inspired confidence which has been the main reason for the repeated batting collapses of the team. Lara was particularly annoyed on his batsmen after they failed to reach a modest target of 163 against India in their last league match where he deliberately brought himself at the number nine slot to give others a chance to shoulder the responsibility. "There are people knocking on the door. If these guys do not take the responsibility, they will be replaced," Lara said "We are not sure what is happening at the number six, seven and eight positions in the batting line-up," he said. Although the West Indies have some dangerous batsmen like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, it is necessary for them to click collectively tomorrow if they wish to counter the formidable Australians. Some of the Australian batsmen have also not been in good nick but as seen in the past the enormity of the occassion bring out the best in them. It would be interesting to see who opens the innings for the Aussies since they have gone with different combinations in all the matches. The strongly-built Matthew Hayden, who has got some runs under his belt, is likely to open with Simon Katich. But strangely, the running between the wickets was a problem area for the world champions in the last match against India and captain Ponting is keen to rectify it. "Losing 5 wickets for 90 runs is not good enough to win big games. We will have to sort out our running between the wickets also," Ponting said. In the bowling department, the Aussies have the formidable pace duo of Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee which will pose a major threat to the rival batsmen. Despite returning to international cricket after a fairly long gap, McGrath has shown that he is still accurate and capable of troubling the best of batsmen with his nagging line and length. The Kinrara track has not been too conducive for strokeplay and judging by the scores of the last few matches, a low scoring contest appears to be on the card. Teams: Australia: Ricky Thomas Ponting (Captain), Michael Hussey , Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke , Dan Cullen, Brad Haddin, Matthew Lawrence Hayden , Brad Hogg, Simon Katich , Brett Lee , Glenn Donald McGrath , Damien Richard Martyn , Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson. West Indies: Brian Lara (Captain), Ramnaresh Ronnie Sarwan , Christopher Henry Gayle , Shivnarine Chanderpaul , Wavell Wayne Hinds , Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels , Dwayne Bravo , Dwayne Smith , Carlton Baugh, Ian Bradshaw, Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards and Corey Collymore. Also View In-Depth Coverage: India-Australia-West Indies Tri-Series Team Page: West Indies Team Page: Australia | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
|
|
|