Daijiworld Media Network

Kanpur, Nov 27 : Welcome to the decider being played at Kanpur. The series is level at one each. India would like to win and keep the record of not having lost a series this year intact. Their middle order will have to come good. Yuvraj and Raina again failed with the bat in the last match. However, both have been selected for the South African series, so that should induce some confidence in their batting. West Indies will be looking to pull off a series a victory after having a poor Test series. The batsmen were good in the last match as four of them got fifties. Their bowling was led by Rampaul who has some kind of liking to the Indian team.

Pitch Report: 'It was very damp but the colour of the pitch is changing as the sun rays fall directly on it. The toss will be more important for West Indies than India. It will be a two paced wicket and West Indies will like to restrict them and chase it down. The toss will not matter a lot as it will remain flat throughout. There will be no bounce and won't raise above waist high', reckons Ravi Shastri
Indian bowlers will again look up to their spinners to do major damage. Ashwin was at his best in the last match and would like to continue in the same way as a big series against South Africa beckons. It has been a long time since an International game was played at Kanpur. It will be interesting to see how the pitch plays and what the captains decide if they win the toss.

India have won the toss and have opted to field

Bravo: 'Yes, we would have liked to bowl as well. We will look to bat well and give our bowlers something to bowl at. It will be good to win the series as we will beat a team above us but we will take it step by step. We are going in with the same side.'

Dhoni: 'We are looking to bowl first. It is an early morning start and there will be a bit of help for the seamers. It really helps when the game starts at 9:00 AM. It has been a good series, lot of positives from the last game as well. We have to adjust with the sun which is hitting directly. We are playing the same team as the last match'

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami

West Indies (Playing XI): Kieran Powell, Johnson Charles(w), Marlon Samuels, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo(c), Darren Sammy, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Veerasammy Permaul

Match Preview :

A buoyant West Indies team would look to create history when they lock horns with India in the third and final ODI in Kanpur on Wednesday. The Green Park in the central city of Uttar Pradesh has been witnessed to many an epic battle and would provide an opportunity for the visitors to seal their first bilateral ODI series win for more than a decade on Indian soil.

India on the other hand would like to believe that Visakhapatam was an aberration and continue their domination in the shorter formats. Reputation would be at stake for MS Dhoni's men as India, the current World Champions are atop the ICC ODI rankings while West Indies are placed at a lowly seventh position. A loss for the home side would not affect the positions for either teams but would certainly be a heavy dent on India's ego and pride.

India

India will once again rely on the flamboyant duo of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to provide them with a rollicking start. Sharma has amassed 1155 ODI runs in 2013 and sits only behind Virat Kohli. Dhawan is not too far behind and is at the sixth position as far as aggregate runs are concerned. Virat Kohli has missed the opportunity to add to his illustrious hundreds tally with scores off 86 and 99 at Kochi and Visakhapatnam respectively and would be looking to make the West Indies pay.

MS Dhoni registered a splendid fifty in Vizag, once again giving proof to the widely accepted fact that he is one of the greatest finishers in the history of ODI cricket. The only concern for India would be the form of Yuvraj Singh. The southpaw looks a flash of the player he was and struggled against the West Indian pace and spin in the second ODI. There might be a case for him to be replaced by Ambati Rayudu but with skipper Dhoni coming out in support of Yuvraj, it looks unlikely there would be any change in the top six. Ravindra Jadeja's batting form is also a cause of worry for the hosts.

The fast bowling unit will continue to give nightmares to the Indian skipper. The trio of Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma, all took a pasting in Vizag and need to recuperate from the hammering. India would be banking on its spinners - R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who both impressed in Vizag to replicate their performance in the decider.

West Indies

West Indies would be cock-a-hoop after their thrilling series-leveling victory. Kieran Powell, the replacement for Chris Gayle made the most of the opportunity and sparkled with a fluent 59. Johnson Charles has also looked in good touch. Darren Bravo with two consecutive fifties has been the stand-out batsman for the visitors. Lendl Simmons was involved in a match-changing partnership with Darren Sammy in Vizag.

The only disappointment for the West Indies has been the performance of Marlon Samuels who has failed to make any impact on the series thus far. Skipper, Dwayne Bravo and Sammy can provide the impetus at the death. The latter has already shown his prowess with an unbeaten match-winning half-century in the previous match.

Ravi Rampaul picked up 4 wickets in Vizag and has bowled with zest and heart. Jason Holder has got extra bounce with his height and troubled the Indian batsmen with the new ball. Sunil Narine was very economical in the last encounter but hasn't been amongst the wickets. With Bravo, Sammy and Permaul also a part of their bowling armoury, the West Indies have quite a variety at their disposal.

Stats and Trivia

- West Indies' last bilateral ODI series win against India dates back to 2006 when as hosts they beat the touring Indian side 4-1.

- West Indies' last bilateral ODI series win against India on Indian soil dates back to 2002/03 when they beat the hosts 4-3 in a seven-match series.

- Ravindra Jadeja is the joint leader (along with Saeed Ajmal) amongst the wicket-takers in ODI cricket for 2013.

- Ravi Rampaul is two short of completing 100 ODI career wickets. He will become the 14th West Indian to reach the milestone should he achieve the feat.

- The last international hosted by the Green Park in Kanpur was a Test match between India and Sri Lanka in November 2009 which the hosts won comfortably.

Pitch and Weather Conditions

MS Dhoni was unhappy with the evening dew in Vizag which affected the Indian bowlers adversely as they found it hard to grip the ball. It will not be a factor in Kanpur, with the match slated to be a day game. However, an early start in the winter in the northern Indian city would mean that overnight dew will affect the conditions in the morning. As such, the captain winning the toss would certainly put the opposition in to make use of the morning juice in the wicket.

A bright and sunny Wednesday is expected in Kanpur. The wicket is expected to offer some purchase for the faster men in the first hour before easing out to be a belter.

Quotes

We believe we can beat anybody anywhere in any conditions. It's just for us to put the pieces of the puzzle together now: Kieran Powell after West Indies leveled the series in Vizag.

He is someone who can bat well at No. 4, someone who can really dominate the opposition. Once he gets a few runs, you'll see a different Yuvraj Singh: MS Dhoni defends Yuvraj Singh's poor form.

There will be no dearth of support for the home team in Kanpur. But the West Indies team will have enough motivation of their own - after all a series win against India in India is rare! The stage is set for the mini finale. India would want to end the home season on a high. Will the tourists spoil the Indian party or will MS Dhoni's men paint the Green Park Blue?