Australia’s in-form batting duo Shane Watson and Mike Hussey are known for their attention to detail and devotion to the training track.
Details, however, have been the problem for West Indies master blaster Chris Gayle.
Former Test skipper Gayle is better known for his partying ways which include an incident with three British women at the team’s Colombo hotel earlier this week.
The three women were reportedly detained by police after Windies players declined to sign the women in as guests at the hotel after a night out, prompting police to be called.
The women were released without charge, leaving Gayle determined to make headlines on the field.
The Jamaican hopes to back up his 33-ball 54 against Australia earlier in the World Twenty20 tournament with another powerful display in Friday night’s semi-final at Premadasa Stadium.
“If you can knock Gayle over and put some pressure on their batting order that just changes the dynamics of the game,” Australia captain George Bailey said on Thursday.
But whichever way the match is flowing for Australia, Bailey is confident his 37-year-old No.3 Mike Hussey can handle the task at hand.
While opener Watson has blasted the most runs in the tournament (242 at 60.50), Hussey has quietly gone about his business after adjusting beautifully to a switch to No.3 earlier in 2012 in the West Indies.
“He has done a lot of his T20 batting for Australia at No.6,” first-year captain Bailey says of Hussey, who’s averaging 137.00 in four hits including three not outs in the World T20 tournament.
“But in terms of what we want from him, if he can bat around a Davey Warner or a Shane Watson, the way he builds his innings and builds a partnership, it makes perfect sense.
“Probably a little bit like (Sri Lanka’s) Mahela Jayawardene, he’s just so dangerous.
“He is someone who you might not be feeling like he’s hurting you but suddenly you look up at the scoreboard and he has just ticked along.
“More importantly it seems whenever they’re batting the partnership motors along.
“For what his strike-rate is (120.17 runs per 100 balls), he’d be pretty damaging.
“When he does need to, he’s very very good at finding boundaries.
“What he’s really good at is making them look less risky than the rest of us.”