MANAGER Tony Howard believes West Indies will win Sunday's final at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur, no matter which team they meet. (Picture by Charles Pitt-Grant.)

by PHILIP SPOONER

The West Indies players have shown supreme focus and determination in the short period they have been in Malaysia for the DLF Cup.

That is why team manager Tony Howard believes they will win Sunday's final no matter which team they meet at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The West Indies reached the final of the lucrative tournament on Monday when they defeated Australia, but fell to India in a low scoring affair on Wednesday.

Howard, however, explained that tweaking with the line-up came about to give some key players a rest, and there was no complacency among his charges.

"My thoughts on the tournament are that we are in the final and whoever wants to get there to meet us will have to work very hard to get there," Howard said yesterday.

Australia meet India today (1:30 a.m. Eastern Caribbean Time) in the final preliminary match. The West Indies manager was speaking at Hilton Barbados where he and 14 other managers of teams in the 2007 International Cricket Council World Cup are meeting.

"I expect we will win the final. We worked hard to get there and we are focused on winning against whoever we face," Howard said. "The players understand what is going on and they understand what is required. We are in the final and will be going all out to win the tournament."

The defeat to India angered some fans in the Caribbean. The Windies had already made it to the final and Wednesday's result did not make a difference.

The West Indies turned their batting order virtually upside down by promoting Runako Morton, Wavell Hinds and Marlon Samuels up the batting order so they could prove their mettle. Opener Chris Gayle dropped to No. 6 and skipper Brian Lara went in at No. 9.

They were also without key bowlers Ian Bradshaw and Jerome Taylor, but the back-up bowlers were outstanding in dismissing India for 162 in under 40 overs.

"I am not going to second guess anything that is being done," Howard said. "What I know is that we are out there (in Asia) for three months and there will be a lot of hard work ahead for a lot of people.

"As you could see, after two or three overs the fast bowlers' shirts are stuck on their backs. It's very hot and humid. We wanted to give the fast bowlers a rest leading up to the final. We were already there and we wanted to give them a break and introduce a few new options. We are in the final and we needed to have those players fresh for the final."

After the DLF Cup ends on Sunday, the West Indies will remain in Kuala Lumpur for a ten-day camp before moving on to India where they will defend the title in the International Cricket Council's Champions Trophy in India in October and November.

After that, they move on to Pakistan where they will play three Tests at Lahore, Multan and Karachi and five One-Day Internationals in Pakistan from November 11 to December 16.

"We are enjoying it. The tri-nation series is a good warm-up for our next step which is the Champions Trophy defence and we are looking forward to that. After all that then we will focus on Pakistan."