Very few people would have picked the West Indies and England to make it to Saturday's final of the ICC Champions Trophy, at the Oval, in London.

But, then, even fewer would have thought England had it in them to beat the Aussies and the Windies would beat South Africa and Pakistan en route to the final.

If you believe West Indies skipper Brian Lara, then "the final between the West Indies and England is destiny. It had to happen".

Make no mistake, the two best teams in the tournament made it to the final. They beat the favourites and the elements to give themselves a chance of winning some silverware in a while.

England and the West Indies are contrasting sides. The former play Test cricket much better – they have 10 outright victories in their last 11 Tests -- than the West Indies.

However, in one-day cricket it is the West Indies who come out tops. In the last seven completed games between the two sides, the Caribbean nation has a 4-3 edge.

"The best part of one-day cricket is that it is over in one-day. Most of our players are very aggressive batsmen and one-day cricket allows them to do that. To add to that, we have been fielding superbly as well," says the West Indies skipper.

The last encounter between the two sides was in the recent NatWest Series. England, batting first, scored 285 for 7. The West Indies were brilliant in their reply and reached 286 for 3 with five balls to spare. Chris Gayle hit a swashbuckling 132 while Ramnaresh Sarwan made sure that the West Indies got home with 89.

An important factor in that game was that Andrew Flintoff was carrying an injury and did not bowl. Experts feel that with Flintoff back to full fitness Gayle won't be able to plunder the England attack at will.

But that's not the only change in the England team since then. Vikram Solanki and Alex Wharf have made a huge difference to the side as well.

"We felt we needed a bit more athleticism in the field and a bit more depth in our batting. We feel that Solanki and Wharf have given us those credentials. I feel we have played good one-day cricket over the last five weeks and in the summer we didn't play well enough," said Vaughan.

The victory over Australia in the semi-finals is a huge confidence boost for England but Vaughan feels England benefited greatly from winning against India in the NatWest Challenge.

This will also be the first time since the 1979 World Cup final that England and the West Indies meet in the final of a major global tournament. England did reach the final of the 1992 World Cup and the West Indies made it to the semi-finals of the 1996 World Cup. But that was as far as they got. The silverware eluded them.

"We are wounded and we are a team that would like to leave with some silverware and it's a great opportunity. I think the guys are very hungry to get out there," declared Lara on Friday.

"We're not going to concentrate on him [Andrew Flintoff] completely. Anyone who can bat through the fifty overs, like the openers, or even the number three batter is much more dangerous than someone lower down the order. We are concentrating on the entire team, not just an indivdual," he added.

The Oval is the perfect venue for the match. It promises a good batting wicket; normally it delivers.

While playing at home, England have a slight edge over the West Indies. In the 26 matches they have played, England has won 13 times while the West Indies have 12 victories. That gives us virtually nothing to choose from.

The West Indies won their last match at the Oval. They defeated South Africa in this tournament. England also won their last match at the same venue. That was during the NatWest Challenge when they scored 307 against India. At the Oval, though, the West Indies and England have met just twice and both won a match each.

The toss should not make as huge a difference at the Oval as it did in Southampton and in Birmingham.

The match is undoubtedly too close to call. The team that keeps its nerve in front of a full house is the one that should emerge triumphant. It is a great occasion for both teams, which come into the final on the back of some great wins.

"Cricket is always going to be second to football in England. If we win, things just might start to change a bit," said Vaughan, when talking about what inspires him to win.

English cricket will be hoping for that to happen tomorrow.