WI vs Ind, 4th ODI: India bowlers run through struggling West Indies lineup

North Sound: The Windies are in desparate times. They started off in a steady manner, but have lost track of the innings from thereon.

It's an all or nothing scenario for West Indies on Sunday, as a victory for India at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, on Sunday, would hand them the series.

West Indies: 162-7 from 41.2 overs

WICKET! A soft Dismissal, as Pandya picks up his third. Jason Mohammed slashes hard outside the off stump, but only managed to send it straight into the safe hands of Ravindra Jadeja at point.

West Indies: 161-5 from 40.5 overs

WICKET! They are falling like a house of cards now. Powell goes for the big pull, off a slower short ball by Umesh, and completely mis-timed it, edging it to Ravindra Jadeja on the off side.

West Indies: 157-5 from 40 overs

The hosts look like they are in deep waters now. With half their batting order gone, they now have 10 overs to go, to put up a challenging total for the formidable Indian batting lineup.

West Indies: 154-5 from 38.1 overs

WICKET! And Jason Holder continues to struggle. Umesh strays down the leg side as Holder tries to flick for a run or two. However, he only managed to get a glove onto that, as Dhoni takes another diving catch. The West Indies captain walks straightaway, as the Indians go up in appeal.

West Indies: 136-4 from 35 overs

WICKET! Another one bites the dust. Shai Hope pokes outside the off-stump at an out-swinging delivery by Pandya, and only managed to edge it into the save gloves of MS Dhoni, who did well to take a diving catch.

West Indies: 121-3 from 31.2 overs

WICKET! Kuldeep fires in a flighted wrong one, as Chase went for an on drive. However, he got completely beaten by the turn, as the ball went on to hit the stumps. This wicket as almost a carbon-copy of how Chase got out in the last game.

West Indies: 117-2 from 30 overs

Hope and Chase have looked to rebuild after the loss of the first two wickets. However, they have not been given many opportunities to score by the Indian bowlers.

West Indies: 80-2 from 21.5 overs

WICKET! Lewis dances down the track, but Kuldeep sees him coming, and fires it in full, and into his legs. The southpaw only managed to play a mis-timed uppish flick, which Virat Kohli latched on-to, with relative ease at short mid-wicket.

West Indies: 69-1 from 20 overs

Its very slow going for West Indies today. They are going at around three runs per over, as the Indian bowlers keep plugging away at them. It will be interesting to see when they start to go after the Indian bowlers. Kyle Hope's wicket would have given India some boost.

West Indies: 31-0 from 10 overs

A rather slow start by the West Indies openers. However, this is exactly what they would have been looking for, as try to make their way back into the series. The Indians, who have kept things tight so far, need an early wicket to get things back under control.

West Indies: 5-0 from 1 over

A streaky start by West Indies. Lewis got off the mark with a cracking cut off Mohammed Shami's bowling, but the India paceman came back strongly with an outswinger that caught the outside edge of the West Indies opener's bat. However, the ball kept low, and ran down to Kedar Jadhav at third man, allowing the West Indians to scamper a single.

Just as suddenly as the rains came in, the clouds have suddenly dispersed, as Kyle Hope and Evin Lewis come out to bat. Mohammed Shami to open the bowling for India.

The match was just about to start, but it has suddenly started to rain cats and dogs in North Sound. Quite surprising, as it was all bright and sunny, when the two captains came out for the toss.

Toss:

Jason Holder has won the toss, and has elected to bat first.

Teams:

India XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

West Indies XI: Evin Lewis, Kyle Hope, Shai Hope (wk), Roston Chase, Jason Mohammed, Jason Holder (c), Rovman Powell, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo, Alzarri Joseph, Kesrick Williams.

Preview: Virat Kohli’s Team India have been on a roll, and will be looking to clinch the five-match ODI series against the West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, in North Sound, Antigua, on Sunday.

Team India are on a roll in the Carribean Islands, having taken a strong 2-0 lead in the 5 match series with two ODI’s remaining. With the visitors already in the driver’s seat, Kohli’s men will aim to seal the series in style when they take on an inexperienced West Indies side on Sunday.

Now that there’s no chance of losing the series, this could be an interesting opportunity to experiment with the strength of their batting depth. Following a tedious Champions Trophy schedule and keeping an eye on the upcoming 2019 World Cup, the motive of this serious will prove pointless if the other players just keep warming the bench against a below par West Indian Team.

Not to put off the hosts, they have shown glimpses of talent but the lack of direction and experience has seen them bow out to India with heavy margins of 105 and 93 runs in the 2nd and 3rd ODI respectively.

The focal point of attention will be Rishab Pant, as many fans are eager to see the youngster adapt in foreign conditions given his heroics in the recent IPL. Another noteworthy experiment could be promoting Kedar Jadhav to the top order after his swashbuckling cameo in the last match and giving Bhuvneshwar Kumar a break by replacing him with speedster Mohammad Shami.

Jason Holder may have learned a thing or two about captaincy playing under Dhoni during his time at Chennai Super Kings, and now it’s time show that his side is worthy of something. West Indies have not won an ODI series in the last three years and the team need to take matters seriously as they eye a berth for the 2019 World Cup Qualification.