BOTH Dwayne Bravo, West Indies stand-in captain against Ireland, and their match-winner Darren Sammy believe the local fans can give the team a vital edge during the World Twenty20.
An almost full house at the Providence stadium  watched the hosts recover from an uncertain position with the bat to post a comfortable 70-run victory.
The crowd swelled as the opening day of the tournament progressed and by the time West Indies began their innings the stands were packed and noisy.
When the middle order fell away they feared a repeat of the collapse that cost them the warm-up match against New Zealand, but Sammy stepped forward with a 17-ball 30 before capping a fine all-round display with four catches and figures of 3 for 8.
“The home advantage will play an important part and once our fans get behind us it really gets us going,” Bravo  said.
“They were a bit disappointed during our warm-up game, but tonight showed we are a much better team than we showed then.
“I know for the next game against England there will be a bigger crowd still and it’s always important. We can use that to our advantage.”
Bravo was handed the captaincy at the last minute when Chris Gayle withdrew with a muscle strain.
For a while it looked to have destabilised the team, but the home side were very impressive with the ball and in the field as they overwhelmed their Associate opposition.
“Obviously losing Chris at the beginning was a bit of a setback but I think we regrouped well as a team,” Bravo said.
“We knew how important this game was for us to get off to a winning start. It was great to see how we played and I’m sure a lot of people will be happy.
“We got off to a good start, faltered in the middle and finished strongly at the end and that’s the most important thing.
“Getting over 130 with their batting line-up and our bowling attack I would back my team any day and I knew we were good enough to go and defend that total.”