Winless WI look to revive Cup campaign

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (CMC):

Two teams, considered highly unpredictable and dangerous, West Indies and Pakistan, clash in a potential cliffhanger in the 10th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup here at the Hagley Oval tomorrow (this afternoon Ja time).

West Indies and Pakistan are both seeking their first win after suffering morale-bashing opening-round defeats against Ireland and India, respectively.

Jason Holder's men had a full training session yesterday afternoon, and all players participated in the session.

"We are ready to turn the corner and go ahead as far as we can in this World Cup," announced left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn.

"We have a very important and difficult game against Pakistan, and we are looking forward to that. We got to take things into perspective. We got to see how good the pitches are and how small the outfields are".

Meantime, legendary left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim said the leg-spinner duo of Shahid Afridi and Yasir Shah can play a crucial role for Pakistan against West Indies.

"Cricketers from the Caribbean islands have always shown vulnerability against quality leg-spinners," Qasim said.

"Afridi and Yasir Shah can capitalise on that weakness if they bowl smartly. Remember, Afridi bulldozed the West Indies batting in the 2011 World Cup quarter-finals in Dhaka with a four-wicket haul".

West Indies aim to rebound after failing to defend 304 against Ireland, although the structure of the World Cup draw means that the Caribbean side is far from out of quarter-final contention.

But a win over Pakistan in Christchurch would put their campaign back on track in Group B, from which four teams will make the last eight.

"We are not hoping at the moment, we are just putting in some hard work. We are trying to build from strength to strength and go as far as we can," said Benn.

First ball is 11 a.m. in New Zealand ( 5 p.m. Jamaica Time).