Third-set tiebreaker: India look to hold off a resurgent West Indies

India will look to seal the series when they take on Windies in the third and final ODI in Kanpur.

Until the Visakhapatnam ODI,the West Indies tour of India was one the visitors would have wanted to forget as soon as possible. They were beaten inside three days in both Tests,had their most successful bowler Shane Shillingford called for chucking,barely put up a fight in the first ODI at Kochi,and then lost Chris Gayle to injury. Then,against the run of play,came the morale-boosting two-wicket win in the last match which had given added significance to the final ODI at Kanpur on Wednesday. Now,the West Indies have a chance of ending an otherwise dismal tour on a positive note.

For India,though,considering the scale of their dominance in the series so far,the loss in Visakhapatnam must have smarted. After that match,captain MS Dhoni had blamed the heavy evening dew for his sides inability to defend 288. And while outfield moisture shouldnt be a problem considering its a day game on Wednesday,what must be troubling the Indian skipper is the form of the three left handers in his middle order.

Middle-order Worries against Australia last month,an attempt had been made recently to mould Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh into No.4 and No.5 spots,respectively,interchanging essentially their preferred batting positions. However,after neither had taken to it convincingly,the decision was reversed for the West Indies series. It didnt result in a reversal of fortunes for the two,though.

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Yuvraj,who had averaged less than five in the ODI series against Australia,scored a scratchy 16* and a labored 28 off 49 balls in the first two matches against the West Indies. Meanwhile,Raina,who had scored a total of 100 runs in four games against George Baileys team, has a duck and 23 against Dwayne Bravo & Co.

Ravindra Jadejas case is a bit different. He has cemented his place in the squad as a bowler but has seen the runs dry up. Much of that has to do with the fact that he hasnt got a chance to bat in the 18 games since the Champions Trophy in June,he has only got a hit at the crease 10 times. His highest was 49* in a 161-run thrashing against Sri Lanka in the West Indies,but more recently only 11,2 and 0* against Australia. Before Ravi Rampaul castled him in Visakhapatnam,his unconvincing 10 off 20 balls,saw India lose momentum and perhaps the match between overs 40-47.

While the trios failures,havent been made to count thanks to the purple patch Rohit Sharma,Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli are simultaneously enjoying at the top,Raina,Yuvraj and Jadeja will be hoping to get a convincing knock under their belts ahead of a busy season abroad.

Meanwhile,the West Indies,too,have batting issues to sort out. In the absence of Gayle,Marlon Samuels and skipper Dwayne Bravo,as the two most experienced players,would be expected to shoulder some of the burden but both have had stop-start years so far. Both Samuels and Bravo have got off to starts in the ODIs but havent been able to make the opportunity count. That,in fact,has been the case of the visiting team this series. Four batsmen have scored five fifties among them but Sammys unbeaten 63 is the highest of the lot.

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While the numbers may not seem flattering,Bravo said it was not a concern for him as long as his batsmen were contributing to the teams success.

It is good they are getting starts,some of us are not even getting them. It is good for us as a team that some guys are getting fifties and building partnerships to put the team in winning situation. Rather than one person scoring a hundred and we losing the match,if four or five half-centuries can win us matches,I will take that any day, he said.

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