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Pakistan hope rain holds off

September 15, 2004 11:18 IST

Pakistan will hope they finally start their ICC Champions Trophy campaign on Wednesday after their match with Kenya was put back from Tuesday because of rain while West Indies make their scheduled bow in the tournament.

Group rivals India have already beaten Kenya by 98 runs and Pakistan will be eager to better their run rate against the African underdogs just in case the clash between the big two in Group C next Sunday is washed out.

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Any further rain at Edgbaston could deprive them of the chance, however, and could see them facing India with no match practice in the tournament.

Pakistan lost twice to Australia in warm-up matches but captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was still encouraged by what he saw.

"The team performed not that bad overall," he said. "The main thing is finishing. We are not playing 50 overs."

West Indies come into their tournament opener with Bangladesh at Southampton on the back of some dreadful Test form, although they have performed much better in the shorter version of the game.

Brian Lara remains as captain and with the likes of fiery batsman Chris Gayle and impressive young all rounder Dwayne Bravo they should be able to see off a side who lost by nine wickets to South Africa in Group B on Sunday.

"Collectively we are a better one-day team than Test team," Bravo said. "We have just got to keep up the good work. We are looking forward to it."

The West Indies side are also keen to put on a good show for fans in the Caribbean affected by the recent hurricanes and have even gathered donations to top up a disaster fund.

"I think it's an opportunity for us to put a smile back on the faces of people in the West Indies," Lara said.

"People in Grenada and Jamaica are struggling with the hurricane. Many of the guys have family from there, and all of us have friends in those parts."

Rookie Bangladesh captain Rajin Saleh was criticised for his decision to bat against South Africa but was adamant the state of the pitch should sway the decision, not whether a team is better at chasing.



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