Cricket: We've got to prove ourselves says Cairns

By MARK GEENTY

Star allrounder Chris Cairns, worryingly still not 100 per cent on his injured ankle, reflected the confidence in the squad when he said the pressure of favouritism in tonight's final was bearable.

"It's a tag we need to become comfortable with. If we are going to become one of the best sides in the world, more often than not you'll be in a final as the favourites," Cairns said after their dress rehearsal was washed out yesterday.

"When you have that tag, for a lot of teams it can be detrimental. We need to make sure we're comfortable in dealing with that. We have so far, and this is another step."

For coach John Bracewell, who won five finals at Lord's with Gloucestershire, it is his biggest match in the abbreviated form of the game since taking over in December as the Black Caps shoot for 13 wins from 15.

With an eye to the 2007 World Cup, he has schooled his charges on tournament play and they did it the hard way by winning last weekend's tough double-header to qualify early.

"In past years we used to think winning matches was pretty important, now it's really focused on a series victory, that's what you judge yourself on," Cairns said.

New Zealand have six players to the West Indies' three with 100-plus appearances, and are rated third in the world to their seventh, but in recent days the odds have narrowed.

New Zealand have niggly injuries to key players, notably Cairns, fellow allrounder Jacob Oram, captain Stephen Fleming and Daryl Tuffey, all of whom were hoped to be available for one final fling.

The first three have been New Zealand's men of the tournament and their contribution will be crucial.

The West Indies, meanwhile, have gained confidence after hammering England by seven wickets at Lord's on Tuesday, with opener Chris Gayle scoring an unbeaten century. There is also the Brian Lara factor, the man with nearly 9000 one-day runs from 238 matches, who was in ominous form with a run-a-ball 58 in Cardiff before Cairns removed him with a gem of a slower ball.

TEAMS

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Gareth Hopkins, James Franklin, Daryl Tuffey, Ian Butler, Chris Harris.

West Indies (from): Brian Lara (captain), Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ricardo Powell, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Ridley Jacobs, Ian Bradshaw, Tino Best, Jermaine Lawson, Darren Sammy, Carlton Baugh.

- NZPA