Zampa in line for tri-series recall in decider

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa is in line for a recall to Australia's side for the ODI tri-series final on Monday morning (AEST), with coach Justin Langer admitting his bowling attack lacked variety during their victory over the West Indies this week.

Having taken nine wickets in four matches to start the series, Zampa was surprisingly left out of the XI for Australia's two clashes in Barbados, a washed-out game against South Africa and a six-wicket win over the Windies.

Langer said the inclement weather and resultant slippery ball worked against the leggie for the Proteas game, but the 24-year-old was left out again in perfect conditions for the match against the home side.

Australia's stand-in coach said the threat of in-form Windies batsman Marlon Samuels, who posted a century at Kensington Oval having hit Zampa for three sixes in his match-winning knock of 92 in St Kitts last week, played a role in the leggie being left out.

The Aussies will take on the winner of the final preliminary game between South Africa and the Windies on Saturday morning (AEST) and Langer said he and selector-on-duty Trevor Hohns will wait until after the match to finalise the XI.

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"We'll watch the game today and work out whether we should go for a spinner or stick to the same make-up of the team," Langer said.

"Probably, on the surface, we lacked a bit of variation (against the Windies), we looked quite samey. But that's OK.

"It was good to play the game on that wicket, now it gives us the best opportunity to pick the best XI for the final.

"(The identity of our opponent) will come into it too, no doubt. That's why it'll be interesting to see what the result of today is.

"It's nice to have that luxury to be in the final and to get a bit more information tonight about our opposition and the environment. Then we can make a decision from there."

Working against Zampa's inclusion is the desire to have as many options as possible bowling in the final 15 overs of the innings, an area where the Australians impressed against the Windies.

Rookie paceman Scott Boland, the man likely to make way should Zampa be selected for the final, took 2-37 from five death overs on Wednesday to help restrict the Windies to a total of 8-282 after a score of more than 300 looked likely.

Countering that is Australia's lack of penetration in the middle overs of the match, when Samuels and Denesh Ramdin compiled a record 193-run partnership and part-time spinners Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch bowled just five overs between them.

"It’s so hard. In a perfect world you always want a good death bowler," Langer said.

"But we've got good options there as well. Because of the way the game went, we didn't bowl Mitchell Starc at the very end either. That was just Smithy being his normal aggressive self, which I love about his captaincy.

"There's always these issues of selection. You want the perfect XI but I'm not sure you ever get the perfect line-up.

"But ... after playing the games we've played and getting a feel for the conditions here, we've got a better idea."

No matter what side Langer and Hohns opt for, the coach is hoping his young group can respond to the pressure of another win-or-bust contest.

Despite being World Cup champions and world No.1, the 15-man squad in the West Indies has an average age of just 26.8 and features eight players with less than 40 games of experience.

With the ICC Champions Trophy less than 12 months away and Australia's World Cup defence two years after that, Langer said the tri-series final represented a golden opportunity for a team in transition.

"This team is trying to put its own print on being a great Australian cricket team," he said.

"We've had great success in the past, that means the side has a very proud history and we've got high expectations.

"It counts for little for some of the guys in this team because they're just getting involved early in their career.

"Some of the guys (have) played World Cup finals, played some big games and that experience will be vital.

"For the other kids, they're just finding their way. I hope they'll lift on Sunday."