Two massive victories in qualifying for the ICC Champions Trophy have boosted the confidence of West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara ahead of the main round of the biennial limited-overs tournament.
A victory tomorrow against fellow-qualifier Sri Lanka will put the West Indies in Group B of the main round, which includes Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand. A loss will see the defending champion take on world champion Australia, England and India in Group A.
"It's a very, very important game, we would love to continue the momentum going and so is Sri Lanka," Lara said of tomorrow's match.
"No team wants to pick themselves up from a loss going into the more important stage of the tournament," he added.
The West Indies -- winner of the Champions Trophy in England two years ago -- has lost just one wicket in its two qualifying matches with opening batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle, starring with Lara in both games. It defeated Zimbabwe by nine wickets and registered a thumping 10-wicket win over Bangladesh.
"Of course we lost one wicket in two games which again is very good," Lara said. "The guys didn't have opportunities [with the bat] but I think the confidence of winning will definitely flow in the team and I expect a very good and positive result on Saturday."
The West Indies captain had no sympathy with the two bottom-placed sides in the tournament -- Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
"We just need to impose ourselves on the opposition and if the teams are weak, then we should go and win," Lara said.
"There is a difference of class and we showed that, and I am proud of the guys. I don't think we need to be tested," he added.
Despite dominating the qualifiers, Lara was wary of Sri Lanka, which has defeated Bangladesh by 37 runs and humiliated Zimbabwe by 144 runs.
"I think both teams [Sri Lanka and the West Indies] are going to be very competitive [but] West Indies is going to put out their best eleven and we are going to go strongly for a win," Lara said.
After dismissing Zimbabwe for a paltry 85, the West Indies' bowlers fought back impressively in the game against Bangladesh to restrict it to 161.
"The guys are bowling well. [Dwayne] Bravo, who didn't do too well in Malaysia, is coming out good and we all know how good a bowler he is during the series against India in the West Indies," Lara said.
Viral infections to West Indies players is the only worry so far for Lara as Dwayne Smith, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Fidel Edwards all were hit by illness in India.
"It's hard to quarantine the guys especially if you travel India," Lara said.
South African opener Herschelle Gibbs will not earn an automatic let-off after questioning yesterday in the Indian capital over a match-fixing and betting scandal, police warned.
"If it is established that he did it, we cannot say he will be let off," additional police commissioner Deependra Pathak said as the interrogation started.
The 32-year-old faced "comprehensive" questioning that would cover "all angles of the case," Pathak said. "A criminal case has been registered here and it must meet its logical end."
Gibbs had admitted accepting money from disgraced former captain Hansie Cronje to score fewer than 20 runs against India in a one-dayer during a 2000 March-April tour.
He subsequently scored 74 runs and said he had "forgotten" about the deal, but was suspended and fined by the South African authorities.
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