Havingwon the first two ODIs of the three-match series, England have sealed theseries and they eye a clean sweep over West Indies in the final match atHeadingley. West Indies, on the other hand, have not won a win a singleinternational match on tour.
West Indies' players have done well individually in spurts but the team hasfailed to perform consistently in tandem. In the Test series, ShivnarineChanderpaul, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin did well in patchesbut barring Chanderpaul no one was consistent. Their batting was heavilydependent on Chanderpaul while their bowling looked toothless.
West Indies were bolstered by the arrival of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo andSunil Narine for the ODI series and a compelling contest was anticipated.However, England outclassed the visitors in both games with effortless ease.Dwayne Smith, Gayle and Bravo sparkled fleetingly with but their contributionsweren't enough to win a match for their team. Narine, who bamboozled the bestof batsmen in IPL 5, has not lived up to his billing and looked ordinary inboth the ODIs. The England batsmen, who aren't the most accomplished againstspinners, didn't have much trouble working him out and Ian Bell and AlastairCook, in particular, encountered him with élan and flourish.
Gayle, who made a comeback into the national team after a hiatus of 15 months,sizzled during his half-century in the second ODI but once he departed, WestIndies' middle order was exposed. Smith and Bravo are the only batsmen apartfrom Gayle who could shore up their batting but both are erratic rather thandependable and consistent.
Their bowling is even more substandard. Narine has failed to make any impactand though Ravi Rampaul has chipped in with a few good overs, he hasn't lookedlike picking wickets. Andre Russell, Darren Sammy and Bravo can peg away buthave appeared far from being wicket-taking bowlers.
England are riding high on the crest of a string of victories and their moraleis sky-high. Bell, having been recalled after Kevin Pietersen's surpriseretirement, has stamped his authority in the ODI format by cracking a centuryand half-century respectively. Cook has been in superb form in ODIs since hebecame the captain last year.
England have decided to rest their three premier bowlers – Graeme Swann, TimBresnan and Stuart Broad for the third ODI with Stuart Meaker, Chris Woakes andJames Tredwell drafted into the team. James Anderson will spearhead the bowlingattack. Jonny Bairstow might get a place in the final XI.
Headingley has become a belter of a pitch for ODIs in the last five years andeven a score of above 275 cannot be deemed as safe. West Indies' best chance towin the final ODI is to win the toss, bat first and pile up a mammoth total totry and put England under the cosh.
Probable XIs:
England: 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ravi Bopara, 5Jonny Bairstow, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9Stuart Meaker, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn.
West Indies: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5Kieron Pollard, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Tino Best.