India handed out a second successive ODI beating to the West Indies in Antigua on Friday to ensure that they are guaranteed at least a share of series. They are now 2-0 up with two matches left and have the first chance to win the series outright when the two sides meet in the fourth ODI at the same venue on Sunday.
The West Indies have looked a feeble side in this series so far but they can still gain a share of it if they win the last two matches. That means fronting up and having a go in this match.
West Indies
It doesn’t seem to matter who they pick to bat for them in this format or indeed which order they put them in the West Indies just can’t seem to put up runs in ODIs at the minute. If anything they are getting worse which isn’t a good thing. It might be worth batting first and just seeing if they can defend whatever they score.
Although they haven’t been fantastic with the ball in this series or recent ones they do at least show signs of having a plan which they don’t show with the bat. If their batsmen could just find some runs then it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if they defended the total although they need Jason Holder to be more aggressive in the field.
India
Everything has gone right for India so far in this series and most importantly for them going forward from the Caribbean everyone has contributed. That is the case with the bat and the ball so that will give them plenty of confidence going ahead. The time might have come where the fringe players get to show what they can do.
Unlike the West Indies it is clear that India do have a plan with the bat and although they only just made 250 in the previous match they didn’t panic when they were behind the run rate and knew their time would come to score. It did and in the end they had plenty of runs and were never in danger.
Team News
At some point West Indies just need to stick with a side and let it develop and grow. It is clear their resources are being stretched and changing all the time isn’t really helping. Alzarri Joseph could return here.
India could be tempted to finally give Rishabh Pant a run out while Dinesk Karthik will be looking for game time as well. MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh could sit the match out if they decide to tinker.
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Betting
It would be a surprise if India do not win this match and probably the finale to the series too but with talk of them chopping and changing I am not interested in betting on them. We would need to back them on a handicap and while you would still fancy them covering it the margin of error could be less than ideal.
The first bet I do like though is the match runs line. It looks quite high to me at 525.5 runs. West Indies don’t look like making 220 at the minute so India would need to bat first and go well past 300 runs for this to safely cover. I’m not convinced that they will especially if they rotate their batting line up. With the early start and West Indies struggling to score runs I’ll go under here.
I’m pretty surprised that Kuldeep Yadav has a wicket line for this match of just 1.5 and I’m equally as surprised that the odds for it is odds against but I’m happy to get on. He has taken three wickets in each of the first two matches in the series and there are no signs yet that the West Indies are picking him. I see no reason why he won’t bag another couple of wickets in conditions which should suit him.
There were not many West Indian batsmen who looked much cop in the previous match. Jason Mohammed was one but his 40 was his first score of any note for quite some time. Rovman Powell looked decent enough and hopefully that has earned him a move up the order a bit. If it has the 12/1 on him to top score for his side here has some mileage. He made 30 in a lost cause in the previous match and something like that could be enough to take the honours here.
Tips
WON – Back Under 525.5 total runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back it here:
WON – Back K.Yadav – Over 1.5 wickets for a 4/10 stake at 2.30 with Ladbrokes
Back it here:
Back R.Powell Top West Indies Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Skybet
Back him here:
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