Mumbai: The Australia-West Indies title clash for the ICC Champions Trophy at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday promises to dish out a rich fare. It has been an eventful journey for both teams to the final, more so for Ricky Ponting's Australia, which lost to the West Indies in the first match of the tournament proper at this same venue.

Its confidence thoroughly shaken, Australia reorganised itself and knocked over old foe England and outplayed India to advance to the semifinals where it overcame stiff resistance from New Zealand. Its confidence boosted by the victory over Australia, the West Indies played like a champion against India and South Africa and in between lost to England.

This West Indies team appears to have grown in a short span of three weeks. Jerome Taylor has developed into a strike bowler, Dwayne Bravo scored his first one-day century and Ian Bradshaw has furthered his claim as a very economical bowler. Then of course Chris Gayle has been in magnificent form with the bat and ball.

Heartening news

Ponting's back to back 50s against India and New Zealand has been the most heartening news for the three-time World Cup winner. McGrath's three-wicket spell against New Zealand was also an outstanding effort.

Ponting said the West Indies has not been an unpredictable team in the competition and that it has not been a one-man team. "I don't think they've been unpredictable. Probably they were before. They have been more consistent now. Bradshaw and Taylor have been very good, and then there's a lot of experience in the batting there. Gayle's been the star of the tournament. The first time we played them, Morton came out and played very well. We need to play well to beat them,'' said Ponting.

Australia's aim is to win the title for the first time. "It's important not to hype it up too much. I remember the World Cup final the last time and we know the mindset to take into these games," said Ponting.

Sensible cricket

Brian Lara said one has to play sensible cricket because the Australians try to impose themselves. "You have to play intelligent cricket, match them at all times, and take that extra step when the right time comes. Playing with flair or attacking cricket is not going to scare the Australians. You have to put in a good team effort.

"The smarter team is going to win. Australia has had a chance to regroup and gain momentum. We'll be playing against a team more aware of the situation and in a big final. So we're expecting a tougher opposition than in the first match of this tournament. We've played each other four times in the last few months and the fact that it's 2-2 at the moment sets up a very good encounter.''

Lara conceded that Australia was the favourite. "Of course. They're the World champions. Going into the match you'd be unwise to think otherwise. We're looking to excel and carry that through to the final. It's not the right place to talk about the chinks in the opposition armour.

"We have grown as a team, there's a lot more self-belief in this camp. Clive Lloyd has come in and we have some good coaching staff but the ultimate thing is that the guys are believing in themselves a lot more and they want to prove themselves as worthy contenders to retaining the trophy.

"The holistic picture is that Australia is a very good team. We've been in two finals before and would like to win this one to make it two out of three in the Champions Trophy. I am no less optimistic than Ricky," said Lara.

"The two teams that has played good cricket over the last three weeks are in the final. We are of course better prepared after we lost here. The West Indies surprised a few people along the way. We had a look at them in Malaysia. It should be a very good final," said Ponting. The ICC's pitch expert Andy Atkinson has worked on the Brabourne pitch for 15 days. "It should produce good cricket,'' he said.

The teams (from):

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Shane Watson, Damien Martyn, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Darren Cullen, Simon Katich, Brad Hogg.

West Indies: Brian Lara (captain), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Runako Morton, Carlton Baugh, Jerome Taylor, Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels, Corey Collymore, Wavell Hinds, Fidel Edwards.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan), Third: Billy Bowden (New Zealand), Fourth: Mark Benson (England); Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Hours of play: 2.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 6.45 p.m. onwards.

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