Will the Gayle force send Aussies down under ?

Callistus Davy
reporting from Mumbai

West Indies skipper Brian Lara yesterday accepted the challenge to meet Australia in today's ICC Champions Trophy final here in Mumbai and emphasized that they will not be looking for excuses while warning his rivals they would be caught on the blind-side of reality for making the wrong assesment.

The two nations meet for the first time in 30 years at a major final after contesting the inaugural World Cup final of 1975.

Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara: Whose game plan will work out today?

"This is an all important final and there is no room for excuses", said Lara before joining his team for a final practice session yesterday. "They (Australia) are favourites but we have gathered momentum as a team and they just cannot roll over us", he declared.

Lara backed up the mind-set of his team by comparing today's final with that of the 2004 final in England which they won by beating England.

"It's different this time. Here we gained a lot of momentum which gives us a better chance than we had in England", said Lara. One of his players, opener Chris Gayle is set to be crowned the player of the tournament for two bolstering centuries, one in the semi final against South Africa.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting preferred to be cautious than make any predictions apart from saying that they will have to play a high quality game to win.

"Hopefully our best performance will come in the final. It's a big game and the guys are looking forward to it", said Ponting.

West Indies: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnerash Sarwan, Christopher Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh, Ian Bradshaw, Runako Morton, Jerome Taylor.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Damien Martyn, Glen McGrath, Nathan Bracken, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Hogg.