Brian Lara eyes a hat-trick and more

Published October 13, 2006

JAIPUR, Oct 12: West Indies captain Brian Lara has sounded a warning to his Champions Trophy opponents, saying his team were keen to maintain their winning momentum.

Defending champions West Indies on Wednesday stormed into the main draw by drubbing bottom-placed Bangladesh by 10 wickets for their second successive victory in the qualifiers.

They were also not tested in their opening match, thrashing Zimbabwe by nine wickets at Ahmedabad.

Lara's team now clash with Sri Lanka in their last round-robin match at Mumbai on Saturday to decide the qualifying-round winners. Sri Lanka have also made it to the next round with two wins from as many games.

“The win on Saturday is very important for us as we'd love to qualify as the number-one side. We'd also love to continue the momentum,” said Lara. “We just need to impose ourselves on the opposition and if the opposition is weak then we should go and win. There's also no room for experimentation at this stage as you just have to win, win and win.

“Everybody knows his role in the team and if an opportunity is there for them I am sure they will go out and execute what they have to do on Saturday.”

Lara said that Sri Lanka would also be keen on winning because no side wanted to suffer a defeat going into the main stage of the tournament.

“Both teams are going to be very competitive. We are going to go strongly for a win because I think three wins on a trot going into the second stage is definitely a positive and we are looking for it,” he said.—AFP

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