PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Former Captain Nicholas Pooran and current Captain Rovman Powell hit blistering half-centuries as West Indies got a further boost to their confidence heading into the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup when they beat Australia by 35 runs in a warm-up match on Thursday in Trinidad.

Pooran teed off with five fours and eight sixes in 75 from only 25 balls, Powell erased concern about his form with four fours and four sixes in 52 from 25 balls, and the Caribbean side piled up 257 for four after they were put in to bat during the match at Queen’s Park Oval.

An enterprising 55 off 30 balls from Josh Inglis anchored the Australian reply of 222 for seven but the visitors could not match the explosive batting of the tournament co-hosts.

West Indies are bidding to become the first team to win an unprecedented third T20 World Cup, and will play in Group C of the tournament with ICC full members Afghanistan and New Zealand, and ICC associate teams Papua New Guinea and Uganda.

Their first two matches in the tournament will be at Guyana National Stadium where they face the Papuans on Sunday and take on the Ugandans six days later.

The Caribbean side will complete the group stage against the Black Caps, as the New Zealanders are known, on June 12 at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, and the Afghans five days later at the venue named after their head coach, Daren Sammy, in his homeland of St Lucia.

West Indies won their two titles under the leadership of Sammy and with the guidance of coaches Ottis Gibson in 2012 and Phil Simmons in 2016.