at Providence  Stadium today
Windies strength goes under
test by England today
…Sri Lanka take on Zimbabwe in first match
COMPLACENCY in any sport can cause a sportsman/woman or even a team, to lose a game irrespective of the sport.
Certainly, complacency must be far from the minds of the West Indies, when they face one of their nemesis England in their second group D match of the 2010 International Cricket Council (ICC)Twenty20 world cup at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence  from 13:30h today.
In the first match of the day and one which commences at 09:30h, Sri Lanka will be looking to redeem themselves following their two wickets defeat to New Zealand last Friday, when they go up against Zimbabwe who had a moral boosting victory over Australia in one of their warm up matches.
“If we bat a bit more convincingly against England and we can continue to bowl like that then there is a good opportunity for us to first get out of the group (D) with two wins and then move into the next round full of confidence.”
Those were the words of coach Otis Gibson prior to his team’s practice session at the world renowned Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground last Saturday following their 70 runs victory over Ireland in their opening group D matchup last Friday.
But that was only possible, following the heroic efforts of all rounder Darren Sammy who picked up the slack in the absence of talismanic skipper and opening batsman Christopher Gayle, by first top scoring with his 17 balls 30, followed by four catches and three wickets as the host romped to a 70 runs victory.
That was after a top order batting collapse which left the home team 83-5 at the end of 13 overs, and should they find themselves n such a position against England, then the massive victory that was celebrated around the region on Friday evening will be done in the country of their opponents.
Gibson said he believes the team was a good team despite the middle order collapse and showered praise on Sammy who inspired the batting down the order and later returned to take three wickets while being involved in four other dismissals.
He acknowledged though, that England will test the strength of the Caribbean side more than the Irish did on Friday, as they are a stronger opponent.
“We know that England will be a stronger test and we have to steel ourselves for that sort of test. We have to stay together and, of course, you will hope that your middle order perform a little better than they did on Friday.”
With Gayle expected to be back in the lineup for today’s encounter, the home team batting will center around the powerful Jamaican left hander who was the first man to score a T20 ton (117, 57 balls 10×6) in  2007 against South Africa.
Add the dependable middle- order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul who showed that he can be a pugnacious opener in the warm up loss to New Zealand, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Andre Fletcher and vice captain Dwayne Bravo and certainly Gibson’s wishes with regards to the middle order can become a reality.
Kieron Pollard was one of the highest paid players at the last Indian Premier League with memorable performances for the Mumbai Indians. Certainly Gayle, Bravo and Gibson would love to see his performance that was on display at the IPL and for Trinidad and Tobago in the Big Bash, today.
Narsingh Deonarine shot to fame in this version of the game, with his six over wide mid wicket that gave Guyana US$1m in the 2006 Stanford 20/20 tournament and like Pollard, a repeat of such batting performance, especially in front of his home crowd can also place the West Indies in good stead .
The bowling will be led by the lively Kemar Roach, with amicable and worthy support from Sammy, Bravo, Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Sulieman Benn and Nikita Miller, while Deonarine and Gayle can also bowl flat off spin to befuddle the Englishmen who are susceptible to slow bowling.
England will be looking to salvage some pride against their opponents who defeated them in both games of this version during their 2009 tour of England and with the present form of skipper Paul Collingwood along with Eoin Morgan and danger men Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen, certainly the Windies job is cut out for them.
Added support will come from Luke Wright, wicketkeeper/batsman Craig Kieswetter, Tim Bresnan who made the highest score by a number eight batsman, when he struck a career best 80 against Australia in the semi finals of the 2009 tournament and Michael Lumb.
The bowling will be led by Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom, who took a hat trick against New Zealand in a test match at Hamilton two years ago, along with Bresnan, spinner Graeme Swann, Michael Yardy and Collingwood.
In the first match of the day, Sri Lanka, who narrowly missed out on defeating New Zealand in the opening match of the tournament, will go up against minnows Zimbabwe from 09:30h and should they pull off the win, then a nervous wait based on the outcome of the final group match between New Zealand and Zimbabwe at the same venue tomorrow, will decide whether or not they go forward to the Super 8.
Veteran openers and former skippers Mahela Jayawardene who struck a belligerent 53 balls 81 against the Black Caps and Sanath Jayasuriya will lead the Tamil Tigers batting line up with support from skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedara and Dinesh Chandimal who had a magnificent debut with the bat.
Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Matthews, Ajantha Mendis, Chanaka Welegedera and Jayasuriya will take control of Sri Lanka’s bowling against the African side.
But Sri Lanka would need to walk with their ‘A’ game, if they intend to get past a team that is brimming with confidence, following a moral boosting win over Australia in their lone warm up match along with the convincing one over host West Indies earlier this year in their Digicel series.
Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda who performed a rare feat when he scored six centuries in seven innings back home in the Zimbabwe Cricket Association 2009/10 season, the diminutive wicketkeeper/batsman Tatenda Taibu, Charles Coventry and Elton Chigumbura are all capable batsmen who can achieve any target for their team.
The bowling will be led by skipper Prosper Utseya, with support from Andy Blignauth who last played for Zimbabwe in September 2005, Christopher Mpofu, left arm spinner Ray Price and the man with the lowest economy rates in all T20’s, Graeme Cremer.