Aussies, Windies revive rivalry
Chris Dhanbarage
 MUMBAI, Saturday - World champions Australia and the West Indies will
revive their rivalry when the two teams clash in the International
Cricket Council Champions Trophy Mini World Cup limited overs cricket
tournament final at the Brabourne Stadium here on Sunday in Mumbai.
The two teams will be meeting together for the second time in this
competition after the West Indies won their opening qualifying round
fixture by a close margin at the same venue. Earlier they figured in a
triangular tournament in Kuala Lumpur with Australia emerging victorious
following a shock defeat to the West Indies in a preliminary round game.
This time the pressure will be on both teams even though they have
notched up two impressive victories during the semifinals.
The Australians brought down New Zealand in Mohali and West Indies
stunned South Africa by six wickets in Jaipur to book their places in
the final.
This match will be of great significance for the Australians as they
have never won the Champions Trophy in their previous four attempts.
They were halted twice in the semifinals first in 2002 when they lost
to Sri Lanka in Colombo and again they went down to England during the
previous tournament in 2004.
Both teams had a poor start to the Champions Trophy but have bounced
back magnificently with some outstanding performances in their last few
outings.
The West Indies were almost down and out when they were bowled out
for a dismal 80 runs against Sri Lanka during their qualifying round
fixture. But since then they have looked a completely different side and
they are now set to create a piece of history and become the only team
to win the Mini World Cup twice. They will no doubt go in with a
psychological advantage having beaten the Australians in their very
first match of the main tournament.
Even then Australia too have lifted their game to great heights
following an early set back and they will be in a good frame of mind
after having defeated the traditional rivals England and India quite
convincingly. Their final league match against the hosts India was a
real challenge but they came out with a superlative performance to beat
all odds and reach the semifinals.
Australia never looked back from there onwards and went on to beat a
spirited New Zealand outfit by a convincing margin in the semifinals.
The West Indies too reached the final in a spectacular manner as they
humiliated South Africa by six wickets with dashing opener Chris Gayle
completing his third century in the competition.
With a total of 434 runs to his credit Gayle has simply stamped his
authority in this tournament as the highest run getter and is determined
to continue with the same form.
This final in fact should turn out to be a battle between the West
Indian batting and the Australian bowlers who have looked so impressive
throughout the tournament. This time the Australian pace attack will be
up against some of the fine stroke makers in the form of Gayle,
Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Bravo and skipper Brain Lara.
Australia: (from): Ricky Ponting (captain), Nathan Bracken,
Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist, Bradley Hogg, Michael
Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Damien Martyn, Glen
McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson.
West Indies: (from): Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan,
Carlton Baugh, Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey
Colleymore, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Runako Morton,
Marlon Samuels, Dwayne SmithJerome Taylor. |
