Windies pinning faith in Twenty20 to close gap with Australia

Sydney, Feb.20 : The West Indies is banking on Twenty20 cricket, the shortest format of the game to close the gap between them and Australia.

They hope to realize this goal in the first Twenty20, in Hobart on Sunday, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Windies coach David Williams admitted it was a "blessing" the tourists could now focus on a new format.

"We've got a good record against Australia, we're two and zip. The guys are pretty confident in the shorter version of the game, we feel like we've got guys who can destroy any attack, like (Kieron) Pollard and (Dwayne) Smith and Chris Gayle. It's going to be good for them," Williams said.

Pollard and Smith showed glimpses of their hitting power through the one-dayers, but Gayle struggled, with 55 runs in five innings.

Williams, whose side is aiming to bounce back from a 125-run drubbing in the last one-dayer, was hopeful Gayle had at least one more big knock in him before he departed Australia.

"We all know what Chris Gayle can do regardless of whether it's Test-match, 50-over or Twenty20 cricket," he said.

"He's a giant of a man and we hope that he's going to come good in the Twenty20,” he added.

West Indies (from): Chris Gayle (capt), Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Wavell Hinds, Nikita Miller, Runako Morton, Brendan Nash, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Gavin Tonge.