BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

West Indies' recent series win against England has provided head coach Ottis Gibson with the biggest indication yet that his side can retain the Twenty20 World Cup.

While acknowledging the difficult nature of the task at the March 16 to April 6 tournament in Bangladesh, Gibson said the 2-1 win over England last week was instrumental in showing that the Windies possessed the mettle in each department to mount a serious defence of their title.

"We know it's going to be a tough job to retain the World Cup, but from the last three games against England, we're in a good place at the moment," Gibson said.

"The batting is in a good place. It's good to see Lendl Simmons getting runs. In the first game it was Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle. It was Simmons, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy in the middle game, so everybody is getting an opportunity to find some form.

"The group is gelling well also, so once we get over there and get ourselves settled, the players are well aware of the opportunity in front of them to do something really special."

West Indies won the first two matches of the T20 series convincingly, capturing the first by 27 runs and following up two days later with a five-wicket triumph at Kensington Oval.