 West Indies will take on Zimbabwe in the fourth ODI of the series at Kingstown
in St. Vincent. West Indies lead the series 2-1 after having won the last two
games in succession, post their first game loss. The hosts will look to finish
off the series in this game itself, because going into the fifth game, a 2-2 score
line would not seem too appropriate for a once-mighty West Indies side,
and could ensure that a few heads may roll at the end of the series - including
that of the captain.
West Indies had announced a new-look side before the start of the third ODI
and that seemed to have paid the dividends for the hosts. However, their batting
was still a worry and in the end, a total of 240-odd against a team that is
ranked even below Bangladesh in the rankings does not augur too well on the
West Indian batsmen.
Click Here to Watch West Indies Vs Zimbabwe Live
Shivnaraine Chanderpaul's knock of a half century was a saviour, but if the
West Indian side need to get back into some rhythm , they will need their batsmen
to come good as a whole. Over-dependence on Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul
- not to mention the now-injured Ramnaresh Sarwan - had always been a West Indian
bane, and apart from Dwayne Bravo, none of the others have looked to
take up that leap forward to the international cricket.
Darren Sammy bowled well in the previous game and is looking for a Test call-up,
but the fact of the matter is that he needs to be consistent with his performances.
Another couple of reasonably good performances in the two games could seal his
spot in the longer version of the game. It could, probably, also help him get
a contract with the IPL!
Zimbabwe struggled with their batting in the previous game, an issue that has
been highlighted even previously. The problem that the Zimbabwean side has is
that they collapse rather easily without any support system if the top-order
does not get the runs. That will need to change and for that, the likes of Brendan Taylor and Brendan Taylor will need to take up more of the responsibility.
Elton Chugumbura opened the Zimbabwean bowling in the previous game, becoming
the first medium-pace bowler from their side to open the bowling in this series.
Whether he will continue to bowl first-up is a question, but with Chris Gayle
having had the better of his opposite number, it only looks likely that the
visitors will change things around for this game.
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