l COLOMBO

West Indies will play Afghanistan today in their final warm-up match ahead of the ICC World T20 tournament, starting in Sri Lanka this week.

Captain Darren Sammy, batting ace Chris Gayle and key allrounder Marlon Samuels have all been included as West Indies finalise their preparation for this prestigious tournament.

The three did not play in the first warm-up game last Thursday, when the Windies suffered a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka.

"It's the last warm-up game before the tournament starts so everybody will be looking to fine-tune and be match-ready for the tournament," declared Sammy.

"We see this as a very important game. As you saw, Afghanistan scored over 200 against Sri Lanka A so it should be a good chance for us to prepare ourselves,".

The Windies were kept indoors yesterday as heavy rain accompanied by thunder forced them to cancel their afternoon training session.

The players, instead, held a gym session, planning meetings and video analysis sessions.

Sammy said the Windies will be looking for clinical performances in all departments as they prepare for the opening tournament match against Australia, at the R Premadasa Stadium in Khettarama next weekend.

"We are hoping to put on a big score. We have players in the team capable of scoring 170 to 180-plus in that region, and obviously the batsmen will be looking to get some confidence," Sammy said.

"The bowlers will be looking to put in a better display than they did against Sri Lanka, and as a team we will be looking to come up with the final eleven."

The final warm-up match will be played at the Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club, at the P Saravanamuttu Oval, from 2.30 p.m. (5 a.m. T&T time).

—CMC