Buoyed by a victory in the 2nd ODI at Vishakhapatnam, visitors West Indies will be aiming for a series victory when they play against India in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) on Wednesday, November 27, at Kanpur.
India
Talking about the hosts first this match is their last opportunity to fine tune their game before the challenging tour against South Africa starting December 5. So Mehendra Singh Dhoni and co. would like to close this series on a high.
The Indian batting line-up, as ever, has looked solid to put it mildly. Except few players, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh to be precise, the batting line-up is in great form in the past couple of months. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni have been in top gear for India. In spite of such a strong batting line-up and scoring a total of 288 in the 2nd ODI India still fell short mainly due to the inadequacies of bowling side.
On to the bowling front now, where pace trio Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma leaked runs in Visakhapatnam. And on Wednesday, the trio would be hoping to put up a better show this time around.
West Indies
The victory in the 2nd ODI will instill the much needed confidence of the West Indies who would now aim to end the series by bagging at least the ODI series, following their dismal Test match performances where they were reduced to a side show amid Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement hooplah.
Kieran Powell, who has replaced injured Chris Gayle in the playing eleven, is a blessing in disguise for Windies, especially considering the lack of form big Jamaican was in Test matches. The other batsmen like Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy and Darren Bravo have contributed crucial runs to help the Caribbean side in mount a challenge to their Indian counterparts.
With the match being a day game, toss will not play a vital role and hence Dhoni or for that matter Bravo will have no excuses to fall back on. However, teams would be watchful in the first hour as this time of the year the chilly north India does provide help for bowlers early in the morning. And to top it off we do not know what to expect from the pitch at the stadium, which is hosting an international match after nearly four years of absence.
Key players
India
India’s star batsman Virat Kohli is simply in a different league to most other players from both the teams at the moment. He’s scored 185 runs at an average of 92.50 in the series and tops the charts for most runs scored in 2013. He agonisingly missed out on a century when on 99 was caught at fine-leg from a well directed bouncer by Ravi Rampaul. So West Indies would be well advised to remove him early for Kohli will not miss out second time. Although India packs a pucnh with a star-studded line-up when it comes to batting, Kohli is the player who stands head and shoulders above the rest and hence he is the player to watch out for.
West Indies
The Windies for all their power hitters have not really had an “X-Factor” type player for a while now. Now that Chris Gayle is injured, somebody who has given a tiny bit of hope with his consistency in the first two matches is Darren Bravo who has scored two consecutive half-centuries in the series. He’s often compared to Lara, in reference to the similarities he has to Brian Lara,but so far he has failed to deiver the early promise he has shown. Those similarities are yet to fully blossom with the bat in hand, but at least he’s made some consistent contribution and Windies will once again turn their eye to him to guide visitors volatile batting. On the other hand, Sunil Narine who does brilliant job in T20 cricket hasn’t quite managed to replicate that in the 50-over format and will be looking to end this short series with some wickets in bag.
Probable India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, and Mohit Sharma.
Probable West Indies XI: Johnson Charles (wicketkeeper), Kieran Powell, Marlon Samuels, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo (captain), Darren Sammy, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, and Veerasammy Permaul.
Match 3: India v West Indies, Green Park, Kanpur
Time: Wednesday, Nov 27, 9:00 AM IST