ST JOHN’S – For the umpteenth time in recent series, West Indies find themselves battling to avoid a series defeat when they face powerhouses India in their third One-Day International (ODI) here today.
Battered in the double-header in Trinidad and Tobago to fall behind 0-2 in the series, West Indies will hope to stay alive in the series by getting the better of the Indians at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium.
The hosts have not put up much as a fight and the odds will be stacked in the visitors’ favour.
However, West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard told reporters yesterday that the regional side were hoping for friendly conditions in order to haul themselves back into the series.
“Hopefully, we can get a West Indian-friendly pitch, whereas the Indians left the Indian conditions and came to the Caribbean to even more Indian conditions,” Pollard joked, in referring to the turning pitch at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.
“Hopefully, we can go out there and actually get a good wicket that we can dominate against the spinners because that has been our problem.
“In the second game we showed some signs of it, so hopefully the improvement is there . . . The guys are working hard.
“Once we go out there and do the correct things, right things – play each ball on its merit – I think we can give India a good fight for the rest of the series,” he asserted.
A victory, however, will prove a tough task for a side that will now be without vice-captain Dwayne Bravo who is taking a break from the game.
Squads (from)
WEST INDIES – Darren Sammy (captain), Carlton Baugh Jr, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons.
INDIA – Suresh Raina (captain), Harbhajan Singh (vice captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Subramaniam Badrinath, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary. (CMC)
