Gayle looking to blast Aussies

LONDON, England (CMC):

West Indies captain Chris Gayle declared yesterday that power batting will be his main tool for the ICC World Twenty20 and his first opportunity to display that aggression comes today in their opening game against Australia.

The Windies open against the Aussies in a Group C match at The Oval at 2 p.m. (8 a.m. Jamaica time) and the big 29-year-old left-handed opener is taking a positive approach into the tournament.

"I try to stick to my strength, which is power - once I get it right I will clear the boundary, so I have to back myself in certain situations," Gayle declared on the eve of the match.

"I am an attacking person and hopefully that can bring a lot of joy and smiling in the crowd," said Gayle, who smashed a blistering 117 against hosts South Africa in the inaugural WT20 in 2007.

toughest group

But in the toughest group of the WT20, the Windies have been paired against Australia and Sri Lanka and the odds are stacked against them based on their wretched form on the England tour preceding the WT20.

They had a mild rebound with warm-up victories over little-rated Ireland and Scotland, but then crashed to a nine-wicket loss to England in their last tune-up game on Wednesday.

Gayle, 6'3" tall and over 200 pounds, sat out that warm-up thrashing by England after thumping seven sixes and six fours in an unbeaten 88 in a nine-wicket win over Ireland the previous day.

The tournament began yesterday with the Netherlands scoring a stunning upset win over England at Lord's.