A Gayle force whirlwind wreaked havoc on Australia's ICC World Twenty20 campaign on Saturday night and England's soggy summer threatens to keep it on the skids.
Heavy rain in Nottingham forced the cancellation of Australia's training session on Sunday, keeping Ricky Ponting's humbled team in its hotel unable to even hit a ball in anger.
Instead, the Australians - on the cusp of an embarrassing early exit from the tournament - bunkered down to plot Sri Lanka's downfall ahead of its must-win clash at Trent Bridge on Monday night.
All the planning in the world, however, could count for nothing if the weather does not improve.
The forecast is for rain to ease on game day with the chance of sunny breaks but as of Sunday night, the centre of Trent Bridge was better equipped to stage a duck convention than an international cricket match.
So lowly is Australia's net run rate after being steamrolled by the Windies, a washout would almost certainly spell the end of Australia's quest to win the only major world crown to have eluded it.
Sri Lanka would then need only an honourable loss against the Windies to advance, leaving Australia to trade in its colours for whites two weeks earlier than it had planned.
Even if Australia was to defeat Sri Lanka, it requires the Windies to win again in the final Group C match on Wednesday.
"We know what we have to do tomorrow afternoon to Sri Lanka and hopefully we can come out all guns blazing and win the game and win very, very well," said Australian batsman David Hussey.
Australia lost to Zimbabwe in the opening match of its 2007 campaign then recovered to defeat England on its way to the semis.
"Hopefully we can replicate the last tournament and make the semi-finals but this time go one better," Hussey said.
But on that occasion, Australia lost its initial game on the final ball of the match, not with nearly five overs to spare. Thus, it was in better control of its destiny heading into its second group match.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was expecting a ruthless performance from Australia.
"I think any team in a corner is going to come out fighting," he said.
"It's not just about knocking Australia out, it's about qualifying for the next round. Every game we play is a must-win game."