'Ride the wave'
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 West Indies on Friday at Queen's Park Stadium.
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 West Indies to gain any sort of traction in the series.
But Ponting believes whatever plans West Indies have that his side is also very prepared and equipped to counteract.
"It's a pretty formidable squad which we have over here, when David Hussey is on the sideline, and Andrew Symonds is injured," he said.
John Dyson admits that 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.
"We didn't bowl well enough. . .We didn't bat well enough. . .It's the truth," Dyson said.
But Dyson acknowledged that a spate of recent injuries has also hampered his side -- West Indies captain Chris Gayle and vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan have been slowed by groin strains, Shivnarine Chanderpaul missed Tuesday's match with a leg injury, and now Xavier Marshall jarred his shoulder on Tuesday.
Dyson noted the situation had been made worse with the series being contested outside of West Indies first-class cricket season.
The two sides will also contest the third ODI at Queen's Park Stadium before heading to the St. Kitts capital of Basseterre for the last two ODIs on July 4 and 6 at Warner Park.
SQUADS
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.
Comments