ST GEORGE’S (Grenada), June 26: Australia captain Ricky Ponting wants his side to ride the wave of momentum from their victory in the opening match, and use it to win the second One-day International against the West Indies at the Queen’s Park Stadium on Friday.
Australia lead the five-match series 1-0, after they successfully defended a victory target of 274 to complete an 84-run victory with 61 balls to spare in the first ODI on Tuesday at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.
Against this backdrop, Ponting has cautioned his side about allowing the West Indies to gain any sort of traction in the series.
“Before the first ODI, I had spoken to the guys about the West Indies team and how I felt they would have taken some confidence away from the Twenty20 game last Friday – even though it was reduced to 11 overs-a-side – and they would relish any kind of win against us,” the Australia captain said.
“They had a fairly young group on the field, and they would have been plenty of this hanging over, so it was important for us to start well, and we did this. The whole focus was to get the momentum going in our way, but they will probably look at their tactics.
But Ponting believes whatever plans the West Indies have that his side is also very prepared and equipped to counteract.
John Dyson admits that the West Indies will have to “regroup, rethink, and work hard” if they are to draw level in the series.
The West Indies coach bemoaned the lack of effort from his side in the opening ODI and made no excuses for their defeat.
Teams:
WEST INDIES (from): Chris Gayle (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain), Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Patrick Browne, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Xavier Marshall, Kieron Pollard, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor.
AUSTRALIA (from): Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Luke Ronchi, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
UMPIRES: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and Norman Malcolm (West Indies).
TV UMPIRE: Clyde Duncan (West Indies).
MATCH REFEREE: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka).—AFP