After completing a couple of limited overs series previously, West Indies and India begin their World Test Championship campaigns when they meet in the first of two Tests in Antigua on Thursday. India have held the upper hand on this tour so far and they’ll be out to confirm their dominance here.
West Indies have offered up some improvement in this format of the game over the last couple of years and this will be a decent enough yardstick as to where they are right now, but they head into the series as firm underdogs.
West Indies
This is a big couple of weeks for the West Indies players. This is only a short series so they can put everything into it in the hope that they can get some points to kick off their World Test Championship claims and whereas in the past there were turgid wickets for Test matches in the Caribbean, that isn’t so much the case anymore so the home side should have conditions to suit them which could be crucial.
With that comes a pressure on their batsmen to stand up and deliver. I will be interested to see the pace in which they bat at as much as their technique and application. The longer they can keep India out in the field the better their chances will be of winning for so many reasons. We’ve seen in the recent past they have a few players capable of doing that. They need to show it here too.
India
There aren’t many places in the world where this India side won’t be expected to win these days. We saw in their win down under last winter that they are now a good side in all conditions and they are not going to give Test matches away by not having a bowling attack that can be effective in certain parts of the world. There is pressure on them to deliver here but that is nothing new and it would be a surprise if they are not on top of their game.
I guess this series will be defined by how well India bowl. You would expect their powerful top six to put on the mountain of runs needed to be successful so if they get 20 wickets then they are not going to lose too many matches. India have a good blend between grinding it out with the bat and being able to get on with it to create extra time to dictate victories. Sides who are able to do that are often tough to beat.
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Team News
Keemo Paul has been ruled out of this match so West Indies will need to decide on whether to play the quick in Miguel Cummins or the spinning debutant Rakheem Cornwall. The latter would bring a much better batting option which could be significant.
India captain Virat Kohli has confirmed that his side will finalise their team when they see the pitch on the day of the match but they are toying over playing a second spinner or not. You would think in Antigua they would want the extra seamer.
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
This is a relatively new ground in the Caribbean and as such we have only had seven Test matches here. West Indies have a decent record on the ground with three wins and three draws with just the one defeat. Unfortunately for them that defeat came to India on the only occasion the Asian side have played this format here. West Indies have won the last two matches though so they should be feeling good about things.
The Test match here last year was the only time there has not been a score of more than 350 so you do have to bat well on this ground if you are going to win the match, but the pitch does have plenty in it for the bowlers, the seamers especially, throughout the game which should make for a decent game of cricket.
Betting
I’ll go with the one bet for this Test match and it comes in the form of a player performance where I think the line for Kemar Roach is actually a shade on the low side at 90.5. This is a ground where he has a decent record, whether that is because he is inspired by the man it is named after or something else I have no idea but in seven bowling innings here he has two five wicket hauls and three more four wicket captures.
Indeed such is his record on this ground that he takes his wickets at an average of 14.08 and a strike rate of 28 balls. Any concerns that he can’t do it against India are unfounded because we saw him take three wickets against them in the World Cup and while that is a different format his pace and bounce visibly got the Indians on edge. His line here is 90.5 which means we need five wickets but he’s decent enough with the bat to be able to reduce that to four with the runs he should make. I like the over here.
Tips
WON – Back K.Roach’s Performance – Over 90.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
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