Australia Look to Lift T20 Rating

St Lucia: Australia enter their two Twenty20 matches against the West Indies eager for a series win after the teams shared the spoils in the one-day internationals.

Led by George Bailey, the tourists - ranked fifth in the shortest format of the game - will be eyeing an improved display, beginning with the first T20 in St Lucia on Tuesday, after an indifferent ODI series.

The Tasmanian was surprisingly one of Australia's best batsmen in the 50-over matches, scoring 172 runs - just two less than veteran and the visitors' leading scorer Michael Hussey.

While the two will need to reproduce similar form, Bailey will be hopeful the remainder of the batting order improve.

More runs are needed from the likes of Matthew Wade, Peter Forrest and David Hussey, while more is also expected of Shane Watson and David Warner.

Australia gradually improved with the bat as the one-day series, which ended level at 2-2, went on.

While for the most part Watson struggled with the bat, he contributed with the ball, while Xavier Doherty was the pick of the Australian bowlers with 11 wickets at an average of 22.

As Doherty troubled the Windies, Australia struggled to deal with the spin of Sunil Narine, who finished the series with 11 wickets at a stunning average of 14.45.

Narine is in a West Indies T20 squad still without Chris Gayle, although the flamboyant opener's dispute with the country's cricket board appears to be coming to an end.

All-rounder Dwayne Smith earned a recall to the side, while pace duo Fidel Edwards and Krishmar Santokie have also been included.

Darren Sammy will again lead the team, while Kieron Pollard, who dominated with the bat in the ODI series, is likely to again cause problems.

The hard-hitting right-hander struck 222 runs at an average of 55.5 as he took to Australia's bowlers and scored at almost a run-a-ball.

The West Indies are ranked ninth - below minnows Ireland - in the T20 rankings, but should be higher with the talent in their squad.

Darren Sammy showed in the fifth ODI the damage he can do at a ground with small boundaries like Beausejour. If he gets some time in the middle he could take the Australian attack apart again, but the likelihood is he could be batting as low as ninth in this West Indies line-up.

However they will face an Australian side becoming accustomed to the conditions and keen for a series win after the ODI draw.

Teams news

West Indies (from) DJG Sammy (capt), DJ Bravo, CS Baugh (wk), NE Bonner, DM Bravo, J Charles, FH Edwards, GE Mathurin, SP Narine, KA Pollard, AD Russell, MN Samuels, K Santokie, DR Smith

Australia (Announce XI) David Warner, Shane Watson, Matthew Wade (wk), Michael Hussey, David Hussey, George Bailey (capt), Daniel Christian, Brett Lee, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Xavier Doherty.

Pitch and conditions
The St Lucia pitch provided 280-plus first-innings scores in both the ODIs and there is no reason runs shouldn't flow in the first Twenty20 as well.

Stats and trivia

• David Hussey will become Australia's most-capped Twenty20 international player in this game, surpassing Michael Clarke's record of 34 matches.
• There is no clear advantage at the toss: in the 11 T20 internationals held in St Lucia the team batting first has won five and lost six.
• Should Australia lose both of these matches, they could finish the tour ranked as low as eighth on the ICC's T20 international rankings.

Match facts
Tuesday March 27, 2012
Start time 1400 local (1800 GMT)