Powell to boost WI batting

Jamaican Powell, not picked for the Test squad, joined the touring team in Sri Lanka this past weekend and is now preparing with the unit ahead of their opening game of the series against India on Sunday.

Sri Lanka handsomely won the preceding Test series against the West Indies 2-0 and the 26-year-old Powell, who has played more than a hundred One-Day International (ODI) matches, hopes he can help reverse the losing trend on the tour so far.

"What I bring to the team is some experience and hopefully I can get into a bit of form as soon as possible and bring some runs to the batting department," Powell told reporters this week.

Missing many of their regular players, including front-line batsmen Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who did not sign the tour contract because of a West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), the West Indies were outclassed by the home side.

Sri Lanka won the First Test in Colombo by six wickets and the second in Kandy by 240 runs, both inside four days.

"It’s pretty hard on the guys coming here, losing two Test matches and we have a really hard one-day series coming up," said the Trinidad-based Powell.

Powell averages of 25.87 in 105 ODIs and was part of the West Indies team that won the ICC Champions Trophy in England last September, defeating the home team by three wickets in a thrilling final.

He has scored 2,070 runs in ODIs including one century, a terrific 124 off 93 balls with nine fours and eight sixes, that propelled West Indies to the Coca-Cola Challenge title in Singapore in September 1999 when they beat India by four wickets in the final.