West Indies v England, 3rd ODI, Preview: Visitors eye perfect wrap as hosts play for pride

The action moves to Barbados for the final ODI of the short ODI series between England and West Indies. The match will be nothing but a dead rubber with both teams having their own agenda in mind coming in to the game. The visitors would be hoping for a clean sweep to wrap up the perfect tour. On the other hand, the hosts have pride at stake to play for.

Moreover, the visitors are trying to strike the right combination for their Champions Trophy preparations. Meanwhile, the hosts are only focusing on winning in order to improve their rankings. Poor rankings will see them bow out of the race for direct qualification in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. All eyes would be glued on the English camp though.

Regular opener Alex Hales has been added the English squad and is most likely to make a comeback after a long six weeks break. His return will only bolster the visiting side and the hosts have a lot to worry about. The English team had steamrolled the opposition in the first encounter. In the second match, though, they had to work hard for the win after having faced a middle-order batting collapse.

Team News:

West Indies

Batsman Jason Mohammed will be the key man for the hosts in the final fixture. He has been the only Caribbean batsman who has looked in fine touch in both the matches thus far. The West Indies have very little to tinker their combinations with. At best, they can rope in Rovman Powell in the playing eleven.

Rovman is a hard hitting all-rounder with Andre Russell-esque playing style. He might replace Kieran Powell in the batting lineup. Kieran has had two silent outings with the bat after having made a comeback in the national side after almost two years. Bowling turned up to be good for them in the previous game with Shannon Gabriel finally find right lines in the 2nd ODI.

Ashley Nurse was the pick of the bowlers for them and the team will be hoping for a repeat performance from him. Devendra Bishoo, the seniormost bowler in the side, is yet to make an impact of any sort in the series. The same goes for skipper Jason Holder who has been unimpressive with both bat and the ball in the series.

England

The English camp will be a relaxed camp as most of their players have done their bit in the series. The first match saw Sam Billings, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali chip in with runs under their belt. In the second ODI, when these men failed to make a mark, it was Joe Root, Jason Roy and Chris Woakes who turned out to be the stars with the ball.

All in all, most of their batters have got runs to their names in the series. There remains just one exception though, Jos Buttler. Buttler has had a quiet series and was ineffective in the limited overs series in India as well. The team management would hope that he gets the runs on the day when it matters. Alex Hales is fit again and has been drafted in the side.

As per the recent reports, he has been spending a lot of time in the gym and is expected to be at his beastly best sometime soon. However, in a bid to accommodate him in the side, the team might be forced to leave out Sam Billings, who had struck a fifty in the first ODI. The only case wherein both Billings and Hales fit the bill is if Buttler is dropped and Billings takes up the wicket keeping gloves.

Probable XI:

West Indies

Kraigg Brathwaite, Evin Lewis, Rovman Powell, Shai Hope, Jason Mohammed, Jonathan Carter, Jason Holder (c), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo, Shannon Gabriel.

England

Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Steven Finn.

Match facts:

Venue: Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Time: 1900 (IST), 1330 (GMT), 0930 (local)

Pitch Verdict: Batting track

Weather: Clear skies

StAttack:

• West Indies have won only one of their last 12 ODI matches against England.
• In the 90 Head-to-Head clashes, English side has won 44 times while West Indies have won 42 times and 4 have gone down with no results.
• The English team has had the best run rate among all the teams since the ICC World Cup 2015.
• Adil Rashid remains to be England’s leading wicket-taker in ODIs since the 2015 World Cup.