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Australia eye another victory over WIndies
Ponting wants his side to ride the wave of momentum from their victory in the opening match, and use it to win the second ODI against West Indies on Friday
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: July 02, 2008 05:25 PM IST
Read Time:4 min
St. George's (Grenada):
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.
"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.
"We know that they are a very capable ODI side, and they are very capable of bouncing back fairly quickly."
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.
"The flexibility around our group is probably as good as I have seen it around an Australian team. The overall composition of the team is pretty good, and in Grenada, we can expect the same sub-continent type pitches, and I believe our overall make-up will work as well."
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.
"We have to regroup and rethink our approach and just work hard in the next couple of days to make sure we put up a considerably better performance in the next game. It is a series of five. It's not the end of the earth yet."
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.
"It would be lovely to come to a game, and the day before be able to say that we are guaranteed of these players playing," he said. "I feel we have been more like a mobile hospital than a playing unit of late.
"It's very hard to predict how severe are the injuries, and secondly, how long it will take for the player to recover. We listen to what the physiotherapist says. He listens to what the player says. And we make a decision based on this.
"What we have found with the injuries, we have got to the day before the game, and the player says the recovery is not good enough, and he can't play, and we can't quickly fly someone in to replace the injured player."
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.
Umpires: Asad Rauf, Norman Malcolm,
TV Replays: Clyde Duncan,
Reserve: Goaland Greaves.
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.
"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.
"We know that they are a very capable ODI side, and they are very capable of bouncing back fairly quickly."
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.
"The flexibility around our group is probably as good as I have seen it around an Australian team. The overall composition of the team is pretty good, and in Grenada, we can expect the same sub-continent type pitches, and I believe our overall make-up will work as well."
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.
"We have to regroup and rethink our approach and just work hard in the next couple of days to make sure we put up a considerably better performance in the next game. It is a series of five. It's not the end of the earth yet."
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.
"It would be lovely to come to a game, and the day before be able to say that we are guaranteed of these players playing," he said. "I feel we have been more like a mobile hospital than a playing unit of late.
"It's very hard to predict how severe are the injuries, and secondly, how long it will take for the player to recover. We listen to what the physiotherapist says. He listens to what the player says. And we make a decision based on this.
"What we have found with the injuries, we have got to the day before the game, and the player says the recovery is not good enough, and he can't play, and we can't quickly fly someone in to replace the injured player."
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.
Umpires: Asad Rauf, Norman Malcolm,
TV Replays: Clyde Duncan,
Reserve: Goaland Greaves.
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