Sammy, Russell take Windies to 260/5

Skipper Darren Sammy and Andre Russel’s blitzkrieg batting at the end took West Indies to competitive total of 260/5 in the third ODI against India at the Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad.

 

Visitors added 93 runs in the last five overs. Sammy and Russell made unbeaten 57 runs in the last 5.4 overs. Sammy scored unbeaten 41 runs off 187 while   Russell made 40 runs not out in just 18 deliveries.
Put into the bat, West Indies lost opener L Simmons for just one run. He was dismissed by Vinay Kumar. Soon after Simmons, Samuels started consolidating Caribbean innings along with Hyatt but Mithun broke the partnership early. Hyatt fell prey to Mithun for 20.
However, Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels kicked off recovery work but received further jolt as Bravo got retired hurt. Despite of this Samuels continued run fest and scored 58 runs before dismissed by R Ashwin.
Later, Ramdin and Pollard launched counter attack with some sensible hitting. Ramdin was looking good but Umesh Yadav dismissed him for 38 runs. Pollard also failed to consolidate on drop chance and sent pack by Vinay Kkumar for 29. Jadeja took blinder catch to dismiss Pollard.
At this stage, West Indies were looking to score under 220-230 but it was Sammy and Russell, who scored quickly at the end.
For India, Vinay Kumar took two wickets while Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Mithun and Aswhin claimed one wicket each.
 Earlier, Indian skipper Virender Sehwag won the toss and elected to field against West Indies in the 3rd ODI here at Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad on Monday.
 Sehwag said that dew factor will work in the second innings which would pose difficulties before spinners to grip the ball.
India has made one change in the side. Varun Aaron has paved the way for Abhimanyu Mithun in the playing XI.
 Mystery spinner Sunil Narine has been making debut for West Indies. He replaced Adrian Barath in the side.


Teams:

Ind: Virender Sehwag, Parthiv Patel, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Varun Aaron, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav.
WI: Darren Sammy, Darren Bravo, DP Hyatt, KA Pollard, D Ramdin, R Rampaul, KAJ Roach, AD Russell, MN Samuels, LMP Simmons, Sunil Narine.

Match Preview:
 India have been aiming to seal the series in the 3rd ODI against the West Indies here at Sardar Patel, Motera Stadium in Ahmadabad on Monday.
 India lead the series 2-0 and another win here will seal the five-match ODI series in favour of home side.
On the other hand, West Indies are in the do-or-die situation to keep the series alive with a victory here.
However, India managed to win the first two ODIs at Cuttack and Visakhapatnam but visitors have displayed very improved performance after Test series lost.
In the Cuttack ODI, West Indies narrowly missed the victory while in Visakhapatnam after top order collapsed Caribbean side scored 269/9 in their allotted quota of 50 overs. Though, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma took the game away from West Indies.
For India, top order failure is biggest concern for skipper Virender Sehwag. In the first two ODIs, Opener Sehwag and Parthiv Patel failed to score. Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina are also not in good touch with the bat.
Though, young guns like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav’s impressive performance in the first two games, has made India favourite for the third game, despite of poor record at Motera. India has played a total 14 games at this venue, in which they won just six times while lost seven and one game abandoned.