Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Time: 1:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 207
Win percentage while batting first: 50%
Pitch conditions:
- Batman will have to be wary of the damage that fast bowlers can cause on this wicket, given how India fast bowler Prasidh Krishna went about his job in the second ODI.
- Even though the pitch has favoured spinners rationally at Ahmedabad, fast bowlers continue to enjoy more success at this venue taking 58.06% of the wickets compared to 41.94% for the spinners.
Weather prediction:
Once again, the players from India and West Indies would like to get out on the park and play cricket, given that the weather is going to be absolutely present for the entire day on Friday, temperature setting a high of 28°C around 3:30PM local time with humidity staying well under 30% for the majority of the match.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: 135
India won: 66
West Indies won: 63
Tied: 2
No result: 4
In India:
Matches played: 60
India won: 31
West Indies won: 28
Tied: 1
No result: -
Top 3 players from India: Rohit Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav
Top 3 players from West Indies: Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Jason Holder
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from India: Rohit Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
Top 5 players from West Indies: Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Jason Holder, Shamarh Brooks, Odean Smith
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
Both India and West Indies have not had an ideal time with the bat in the series in the first two matches. While the home team can still boast of carrying more batsmen who have contributed significantly and can cause serious damage, the West Indies have been found wanting on more occasions than one with their batsmen not able to handle both spin and fast bowling so far. For India, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul carry a lot of promise whereas the West Indies have been let down by the senior batsman Darren Bravo along with the talented Nicolas Pooran, who was expected to fire on the tour. Adding more to the batting strength would be the right approach for this contest given that both spinners and fast bowlers have had success at this venue in the last two matches.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
As far as this match is concerned, both India and West Indies have plenty of life in their ranks and can still put out strong playing XIs on paper. But on field performances with the bat particularly have left a lot to be desired from the battle of both India and West Indies. Nevertheless, despite their ordinary showings, India have remained at the top in the series and they would look to continue doing the same in the final match and inflict a series defeat by a margin of 3-0 on the West Indies. India are certainly the stronger side for this contest and should have more players featuring in the fantasy cricket playing XI.
MORE INFORMATION: Both India and West Indies are likely to bring back their key batsmen in the playing XI with Shikhar Dhawan cleared for selection in the final ODI, which means that the home team will once again be playing around with their batting combination. On the other hand, the West Indies are likely to bring back the regular captain Kieron Pollard who did not play in the second ODI with Pooran stepping in as captain for the game. India also have had two different batting combinations in the first two matches with the pair of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan opening in the first ODI followed by the pair of Rohit and Rishabh Pant in the second, which indicates that the home team will once again be having a shuffled batting order for the final game of the series as Dhawan is set to come back.
Players’ form: After a splendid start to the series with the bat, Rohit flopped in the second ODI when he was dismissed for only 5. But the Indian captain will be expected to bounce back from the disappointing outing in the second game to help India put up a strong score on the board in the third and final ODI. While all eyes have remained on Virat Kohli to get his elusive 71st century across formats, the former India captain seemed to have struggled for runs with scores of 8 and 18 so far in the first two matches. India were served well by the pair of Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul in the second ODI -- they added 90 runs for the 4th wicket to help India revive -- and both these batsmen can be expected to continue making big runs in the middle order. On the other hand, the West Indies would want the senior players such as Darren Bravo and a few others to contribute more with the bat.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
Likely XIs:
INDIA: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammad Siraj.
WEST INDIES: Shai Hope (wk), Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Shamarh Brooks, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard (c), Odean Smith, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph.
Fantasy XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shamarh Brooks, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (vc&wk), Odean Smith, Kieron Pollard, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph.
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India eye West Indies clean sweep in ODI series
The dominant Indian cricket team would look to inflict a 3-0 series whitewash against the West Indies when the two sides face off in the third and final ODI to be played at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. With victories by 6 wickets and 44 runs in the first two matches, India have already taken an assailable lead of 2-0 with the West Indies left to lick their wounds and bounce back to salvage some pride.
India have been absolutely dominated with both bat and the ball so far in the first two matches and the West Indies will face a stone challenge in order to counter the challenge posed by the home team players.
In the first ODI, the pair of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar shared seven wickets between them to help deliver a big victory by margin of six wickets, with Suryakumar doing well to finish the game in the company of the debutant Depak Hooda.
In the second match, a brilliant 64 by Suryakumar and 49 from Rahul helped India recover from a poor start to post a challenging total, against which the West Indies fumbled with Prasidh Krishna producing an excellent spell of fast bowling to take 4/12.
The West Indies batsmen have cut a sorry figure so far in the series with none of them really finding it comfortable to bat on favourable wickets at Ahmedabad. The home team has been able to take wickets on regular intervals in both the games, as they have kept the West Indies under the 200-run mark, having dismissed them for 176 in the first match and for 193 in the second.
While India have plenty of firepower in their ranks, the West Indies are not too far behind given how Alzarri Joseph has bowled so far in the series and the way Odean Smith showcased his talent in the second match both with the bat and a ball. Smith made early inroads to remove the makeshift India opener Rishabh Pant and followed it up with the big scalp of Virat Kohli to showcase his talent with the ball, and later on in the game, he displayed his stroke making ability to score 24 from just 20 balls with the help of two sixes and a boundary in the second ODI.
