A win is vital for Windies

The West Indies believe they have turned the corner as they prepare to face Zimbabwe in a pivotal Pool B World Cup match at Canberra's Manuka Oval on Tuesday.

The West Indians celebrated their first victory of the tournament with a thumping 150-run win over Pakistan in Christchurch on Saturday following their shock first-up loss to Ireland.

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Tuesday's match is set up nicely after Zimbabwe also posted their first points with a four-wicket triumph against the United Arab Emirates at Nelson on Thursday.

West Indies will start favourites to beat the Zimbabweans after winning 34 of their previous 44 one-day international encounters against the Africans, but, as Ireland showed, upsets are possible.

The Caribbean cricketers were criticised heavily after their lethargic loss to Ireland, but all-rounder Andre Russell believes his team now have momentum.

"It's a very good feeling winning a game after losing to Ireland, in that manner," said Russell, player-of-the-match against Pakistan with an unbeaten 42 and three for 33.

"It just goes to show that the West Indies can dominate and we are here to compete.

"On the day we have to turn up. It doesn't matter which team we play against, we're going to have to play our A game.

"It's all good cricket from now on. It's the momentum, and once we keep doing what we can do, I think we're going to go all the way."

However, the form of West Indies opener Chris Gayle continues to be a concern.

He was out for four against Pakistan and his average has dropped to 14.42 over 19 innings in the 20 months since his last century.

"Chris has been struggling, and we're still scoring 300," Russell said of one of the most destructive openers in the shortened format.

“I just think when Gayle and Marlon Samuels peak at the right time, West Indies has the ability to score over 350."

5 Facts

• West Indies have won their last seven one-day internationals against Zimbabwe and all five of their World Cup meetings
• Chris Gayle is the leading run-scorer in ODIs between these teams, with 1,317 runs in 28 innings. His average of 57.3 is his highest against Test-playing nation
• Gayle averages just 14.9 in 17 ODI innings in Australia, reaching double figures only twice in his last nine innings
• West Indies' Andre Russell (80.2 per cent) has the highest boundary run percentage in ODIs between Test-playing nations since January 2014, minimum 100 balls faced
• Against the United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe batsman Brendan Taylor took his run aggregate in World Cups from 2003 onwards to 344 runs, more than any other Zimbabwe batsman

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