Brian Lara

MUMBAI, India (CMC):

Brian Lara believes the week-long break between West Indies' first and second matches will serve them well for the remainder of the ICC Champions Trophy.

The West Indies captain is recovering well from treatment after he suffered lower back spasms when batting against Australia and did not take the field, and fellow left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul is also regaining his strength after he missed the game because of severe dehydration caused by food poisoning.

"Before the match against Australia, I was complaining about the extended length of time between our first and second games, but it now looks like it will work really well for us," said Lara in his first comments following his side's stunning 10-run win over Australia last Wednesday.

FOOD POISONING

"With Shiv now recovering from his food poisoning, and me with my back spasms, the time that we have off will allow us to have 14 fit guys going into the second game, and Corey (Collymore) will be back so it's good."

Collymore left the squad earlier last week to be with his wife Dionne for the birth of their first child in London.

Lara acknowledged that the spirit in the team was upbeat, and they were looking forward to the remainder of the competition.

"Winning to us was very important, and runs on the board on a pitch which deteriorates always gives the team batting second something more to think about and it was a vital toss to win," he said.

"We tried as much as possible to spread out the experienced players because of the fact Shiv wasn't playing. Wavell (Hinds) accepted to go up front which was good. I had to drop back to number six, and (Ramnaresh) Sarwan went to number four.

"We had a bit of inexperience at three and five in terms of (Dwayne) Smith and (Runako) Morton, but I thought the guys played well."

Lara believed the victory was "really something special" and his teammates were gaining a greater appreciation for the intricacies of limited-overs internationals.

"The most important thing was the partnerships that were put together, no matter how small they were," he said. "We had one main partnership, but everyone contributed which was great.

"In the field the guys were excellent. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it out, but we knew we had a total we could defend which was very important. The guys went out and did a great job.

"Sarwan did an excellent job leading in the field. The guys really rallied. They bowled and fielded exceptionally well right down to the end.

"Even when there were 30-plus runs to get from 30-plus balls, we still had faith in doing it, and congratulations must go out to Jerome Taylor on his hat-trick and Morton on his splendid 90 not out."

West Indies face India next Thursday at Ahmedabad in their second match.