India vs West Indies: 4th ODI Preview

So, the change of venue brought with it, some excitement in a so far dull series, with the 3rd ODI being interesting at various stages on Saturday night.

Also Read: YuppTV To Stream India-West Indies Cricket Series Online

India put West Indies in hoping to once again make use of the moisture and make dents in the hosts’ top order. West Indies made a couple of changes as Danza Hyatt, Andre Russell and Kemar Roach were all brought in for Dwayne Bravo, Ravi Rampaul and Anthony Martin. Young Kirk Edwards fell for a duck but the in-form Lendl Simmons and Ramnaresh Sarwan added 65 in quick time to ease some nerves. However, with the introduction of the spinners Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra, they crumbled in a heap as they were reduced to 96-7 in the 30th over having lost 6 wickets for 31 runs in a 15 over period. At this stage, one thought that the writing was on the wall and the hosts would collapse for a paltry total. However, some intelligent batting by Carlton Baugh and some late order explosive hitting by Andre Russell, lifted the Windies to a competitive 225-8 in their allotted overs.

The target shouldn’t have worried the Indian dressing room, but Darren Sammy removed both Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli in the same over to send the cat amongst the pigeons.A small partnership later Badrinath was run out by that man Russell again and Patel was caught by, guess who, Russell for a well compiled 46. Raina and Yusuf Pathan also perished quickly, the latter to a stunning Lendl Simmons catch to leave India tottering at 92-6. However, a composed Rohit Sharma, a useful 41 from Harbhajan Singh and a quick fire cameo by Praveen Kumar sealed victory with over 20 deliveries remaining.

As the teams return to the same venue on Monday for the fourth ODI, India will now look to test the bench strength of this second string squad. Having sealed the series, seniors like Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel will be rested. Manoj Tiwari will get a look in and he should come in for Kohli or Rohit Sharma. Badrinath has two matches to prove that his ODI career is not over, while Shikhar Dhawan will also want to make it count. Ishant Sharma and Vinay Kumar should also make the team.

For the West Indies, it is all about playing for pride. They have been in this kind of scenario often during the two years, However they will take heart from the fact that they almost got one over the World Champions in the last game. They will also know that they came back and won the last two games against Pakistan in the recent series. They should look to bring in Darren Bravo and use Pollard during the field restrictions. They need to try something different to change the tide and a collective team effort is necessary to win back some pride.

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