West Indies batsmen must match the bowlers

Enough. It means just the right amount. It's adequate, sufficient, satisfactory and in this World Cup it's West Indies.

In a format where they only had to beat three teams to qualify for the quarter-finals, that's exactly what they did. In a format where the three teams they had to beat were the weaker sides in the group, they overcame them and no others. That they were regarded as one of the weaker sides themselves is an aside, and one that can be forgotten now that West Indies have returned to the top eight in the ODI rankings, after being briefly displaced by Bangladesh.

They have taken the least common denominator route to get to the knockouts, but for West Indies, it's not a reason to be concerned or even relieved, it's a reason to be delighted. "Whether you come in at number one or number eight, doesn't matter," Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, said at the pre-match press conference in Dhaka. "The quarters are where it counts."

Sammy is not one to waffle. He doesn't churn out sweet candyfloss nothing at press conferences, he talks as though he has no words to waste. When he was asked what West Indies plan to do against Pakistan he said that, "It doesn't matter what we do, we want to win, basically that's it."

It reflects a certain amount of determination that has been absent from West Indies in recent years. It probably comes from wounded pride, maybe the Bangladesh rankings leapfrog hurt more than they let show and, after taking it out on the Bangladesh side when they played them in Dhaka two and half weeks ago, they've got a tiny bit of their groove back. They went on to beat Ireland even though the giant-killers were in a reasonable position at 187 for 5, chasing 252.

Both matches West Indies played after that, against India and England, were games they should have won and didn't because of a collapse in the batting line-up on the notoriously difficult Chennai pitch. The track can take some of the blame, but the batting has to accept the rest as stats like 4 for 3 (against England) and eight for 34 (against India) cannot be forgiven.

The problem runs all the way through, starting with Chris Gayle and Devon Smith and finishing at number eight, because consistency of run scoring is not a feature of his line-up. Gayle and Smith have started forming an aggressive opening pair and have had a century partnership against Netherlands and 58 against England. If Gayle comes off it seems Smith is more settled but even when Gayle floundered early against South Africa, Smith was able to carry on. It's likely that the two will be in each other's company again and that combination should be the best defence against Umar Gul at one end and the possibility of a spinner at the other.

The middle order of Darren Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Sammy looks likely to be boosted by the inclusion of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who is not in the best form, but carries some valuable experience. After his 73 against South Africa, Darren is due another respectable knock, Sarwan hasn't reached a half century in the tournament yet and Sammy has to decide if he is going to come in to smash the ball around at the top or save himself for a burst lower down. It all comes down to whether or not West Indies can keep wickets in hand for something so structured.

The clusters of wickets that keep falling, particularly when they are chasing, but also when they are batting first, as happened against South Africa, means that insurance and security is more likely to come into the fray. It's a syndrome Sammy is aware of but "might need some help explaining." What he does know is that it "affects the outcome" and that they "can't keep losing wickets in patches." Against a Pakistan bowling attack that has caused swift collapses, such as against Australia, that will require better execution than we've seen from the West Indies batsmen so far.

They'll be banking on their bowling to make up for any hiccups their batting might cause and, for a change, it's a part of their game they can count on. Wickets have come from all over, Benn and Roach with the new ball laying claim to most of them, but Sammy and Russell have chipped in handsomely. Although Pakistan are perceived as having one of the strongest bowling attacks of the tournament, West Indies have taken exactly the same number of wickets - 53.

In some ways, their quarter-final against Pakistan is the perfect mix of uncertainty, with both sides prone to implosion. It's the one match where anything can happen and where enough may just be good enough.