The dismal performances of West Indies spilled over from the Test matches to the ODIs as well with the visitors being thrashed by the Andrew Strauss led England team in the 2nd ODI played at Bristol. Batting 1st, the visitors were dismissed for a paltry 160 in 38.3 overs, a target that was achieved by the hosts in 36 overs as they lost only 4 wickets in the process. The 1st one-dayer of the 3 match series was washed out without a ball being bowled and the final match of the series will be played at Birmingham on Tuesday.

The conditions in Birmingham are expected to resemble that of the typical English conditions and seamers are hence likely to enjoy their stint out there in the middle. For the visitors, much was expected of the youngster Lendl Simmons but he's fallen short of expectations so far. Chris Gayle showed glimpses of returning to his own self in the shorter format of the game but he'll have to do a lot more than scoring a quick 30-40. Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been the bedrock of the fragile Caribbean batting line-up for a long time now and chances are that the trend will continue; he'll be expected to do most of the work if his team has to put up any decent total on the board. Dwayne Bravo, fresh from his IPL stint looked in fine nick, both with the bat and ball and will remain a vital cog in the wheel as far as his team is concerned. Fidel Edwards who was rested for the previous one-dayer could make a return to the squad to bolster the team's bowling arsenal. Also, they'd help their cause a whole lot if the team on the whole could improve on their fielding standards.

England won't look to do anything different to beat a side that's had a traumatic time on the tour. So dominant has been Strauss's side that even star players such as Flintoff and Pietersen's absence has not been felt. Ravi Bopara will look to continue his dream run with the bat (across the various versions of the game) and Paul Collingwood too will hope to carry on with his 'Man of the Match' allround performance of the one-dayer played at Bristol. Its often said that captains of even winning teams tend to come under pressure if they're not leading by example and Andrew Strauss will have that thing on his mind. Scoring freely in one day internationals has often been his weakpoint and he'll want to leave his mark during the final match of the tour.

Tag :- Andrew Strauss   Chris Gayle   Dwayne Bravo   England   Lendl Simmons   Ravi Bopara   West Indies