Australia hope winning run continues

Mumbai: Two great cricketing nations, Australia, the world champions and the West Indies, the defending champions, clash today to decide who will be the winners of the Champions Trophy.

The historical Brabourne Stadium bathed in sparkling sunlight looked majestic yesterday, but who will go on to win the battle under the floodlights today?

Australia are on a roll after their first and only defeat in this tournament against the West Indies.

On the other hand, the West Indies arriving here as a qualifier, have proved to be a power to be reckoned with.

Under the captaincy of Brian Lara, they have produced outstanding cricket with some of their top players producing exhilarating performances.

Australia, who are usually confident of their chances against any opponent, are not sure of a victory this time.

They are aware that if the West Indies's star players click, like they did against South Africa in the semifinal, then nothing can stop them.

They are likely to have made all arrangements to tackle the 'Gayle storm' should it make attempts to sweep them away.

Fortunately for Australia, their pacers have delivered whenever required.

Glenn McGrath, their ageing pacer and Brett Lee have the ability to nullify a Gayle storm or a Lara blaze.

And with some fantastic support from young pacers like Johnson, Bracken and Watson, their attack could prove deadly.

What is ironical is the fact that the West Indies, who ruled the world with their pace attack, are not really dependent on them now to lead them to victory.

Instead, it is their batting strength today which can challenge the best.

Shivnaraine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan with Gayle and Lara is quite a fearful and formidable foursome. Added to that is the transformation of Dwayne Bravo into a fine allrounder and the emergence of Jerome Taylor as a fine strike bowler.

Until recently, Australia's strength always looked unbeatable on paper.

But today the West Indies can give them a run for their money. They can boast of being the first team to do this. Agreed, one-day cricket is all about how players perform on a particular day, but the Windies today have the resources to do it. They just need to remind themselves that they are the defending champions and go ahead with plenty of confidence.

Nothing can be more rewarding for Lara than lifting this trophy.

They arrived here as a qualifier and have won the hearts of cricket fans with their spirited displays.

But to beat the Australians, they need to lift their game to the highest level and now is the right time to do it.