ODI Series decider promises feast of runs Tuesday, January 30, 2007 05:55 [IST]
Vadodara: After the reversal at Chennai that kept the series
alive, India will be keen to
field their best combination as they seek to wrap up the one-day cricket series
against the West Indies here tomorrow.
The three-wicket defeat in the third ODI has reduced India's advantage in the series to
2-1 and the hosts would like to regain the winning momentum at a venue which
has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for them.
India have won four out of the five matches they have played here, but
significantly the only loss they suffered here was against the men from the
Caribbean in 2002-03 in a tall-scoring contest in which West Indies
successfully chased 290.
This will be the seventh encounter at this ground, which has also played host
to the 1996 World Cup clash between New Zealand
and the Netherlands.
India are expected to field a left-right opening pair of Ganguly, who was
rested at Chennai, and Robin Uthappa, whose blazing innings of 70 off 41 balls
was wasted by the middle and lower order batsmen.
Another attention-grabbing knock is expected to get the 20-year-old Bangalore batsman into the
Indian 15 for the World Cup though there are indications he has already made
the grade after his pyrotechnics at Chennai.
The return of Dhoni would also strengthen the middle order with the Jharkhand
wicketkeeper-batsman's penchant for big hits and ability to cart around the
older ball on a pitch expected to be benign and true.
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