Australia Twenty20 captain George Bailey says his side will carry winning momentum into its series against Pakistan in Dubai following Australia's 2-1 victory in their one-day international clashes.
But the skipper is unsure how far that momentum will carry his side in the three-game Twenty20 series, which starts on at 2am tonight (AEST) in Dubai.
The series is an excellent warm-up for the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka starting on September 18.
Bailey said there was a great feeling in the Aussie change rooms after their three-wicket win in game three of the ODI series on Tuesday morning and it was heartening to see key members of the Twenty20 squad show some form.
"It was nice to see Davey Warner start to hit a few boundaries, David Hussey scored some runs, Glenn Maxwell performing as well as he did under pressure," Bailey told a press conference.
"Mitchell Starc is performing well.
"As well as the team performing really well and getting the victory, for those guys to perform well for us is also a real confidence-booster.
"It was particularly nice to bounce back after the loss in game two and show some real fighting spirit last night. Our T20 team will take a lot out of that.
"I'm not sure if it flows on to the Twenty20s. If we win you could probably look back and say momentum played some part."
Bailey is keen to get some game time into new arrivals Ben Hilfenhaus, Clint McKay and fellow pace bowler Pat Cummins, as well as Watson, middle-order batsman Cameron White and Brad Hogg.
Hogg's fellow frontline spinner Xavier Doherty, who was left out of the side for the one-day series, is also a likely selection.
Bailey said slow bowling would be an important factor in the World Cup and playing against Pakistan's spin-dominated attack would be good preparation for his side.
"As difficult as it is, perhaps T20 might be able to free us up a little. We'll have to be a little more aggressive," Bailey said.
Pakistan (from): Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanveer, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Sami.
Australia (from): George Bailey (capt), Shane Watson, Dan Christian, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hogg, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Cameron White, Alistair McDermott.
Tags: sport, cricket, twenty20 First posted September 05, 2012 09:24:57
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