Now that Australia has regained its world No.1 ranking, it will be keen to take a stranglehold on its five-match series against the West Indies when skipper Ricky Ponting plays his 300th ODI in the second match in Grenada on Friday.
In their first one-day outing since losing the best-of-three Commonwealth Bank Series finals to India 2-0 earlier this year, the world champions were impressive in their 84-run win over the West Indies on Tuesday.
And while they are without opener Matthew Hayden for the series after he went home early with an Achilles injury, the look to the future with Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson at the top of the order showed plenty of promise earlier in the week.
Watson may have fallen just when it appeared he and Marsh had the attack at their mercy, but Marsh forged on and finished with a fine 81 on debut that earned him man of the match honours.
Worryingly for the home side, Ponting missed out in the series opener and has made just eight runs in his past four innings, so he'll be out to not only atone for those failures but also to mark the occasions as he becomes only the second Aussie after Steve Waugh to reach the 300-game mark.
Ponting's deputy Michael Clarke was another who didn't occupy the crease for too long, while all-rounders Cameron White and James Hopes also failed to reach double figures after both got a game when Andrew Symonds didn't play.
Symonds managed to bat and run freely at Thursday's final training session before the match but a decision on whether he plays won't be made until the morning of the game when his recovery from that session is assessed.
If he does sit it out again then both White and Hopes are likely to play together again in what shapes as another battle between them for the one spot when Symonds is fit to make his return.
As well as Marsh, Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin also showed encouraging signs with the bat, although there is the chance Haddin may miss either this game or the next on Sunday after copping a knock on the thumb in game one.
Mitchell Johnson could be asked to carry the drinks in order for Stuart Clark to play, especially after both Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken (4-31) performed better on Tuesday, with Watson, White, Hopes and Clarke again likely to share the load.
For the West Indies, the likely return of star batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul is a massive boost after he missed both last weekend's Twenty20 clash and the series opener with a calf injury.
The other players under injury clouds, captain Chris Gayle (groin), his deputy Ramnaresh Sarwan (groin) and batsman Xavier Marshall (shoulder) are all expected to play, Gayle and Sarwan having got through Tuesday's match and Marshall having recovered from the knock he took while fielding.
Much more will be needed from the top order if hosts are to respond to their opening defeat, having slumped to 3-29 chasing their target of 274 in that game as Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy shared top score honours with 33 each.
Chanderpaul's inclusion is a much-needed one but a strong opening partnership between Gayle and Marshall would do wonders for the West Indies, and the middle order also needs to contribute rather than leave much of