It is a do-or-die situation for the West Indies to keep their hopes alive in the series as Australia is just one victory away from clinching the series in the international bilateral series organized by Australia.
After playing two consecutive matches in Perth, Australia and West Indies will be playing the third ODI in Manuka Oval in Canberra on February 6.
It will be interesting to see how the pitch has been prepared since the stadium has not hosted any cricket ODI since 2008. The hosts are in a very comfortable position and would be looking forward to wrap up things in the third ODI.
The West Indies on the other hand, displayed a spirited effort in the last match compared to their depressing performance in the first ODI.
Let’s take a look at the expected line up of both the teams.
Australia:
George Bailey played a gem of an innings in the second ODI by scoring an unbeaten 125 that enabled Australia to post a competitive total. This was his maiden ODI ton and he would definitely look at continuing his good form and help his team in clinching the series.
Michael Clarke will be joining Bailey in the middle order and would like to display a better performance than what he did at Perth.
Aaron Finch and Shane Watson are most likely to open for Australia. Watson returns to the side and replaces Usman Khawaja. There is a possibility of James Faulkner getting promoted up the order after his useful knock of 39 runs in the last game.
On the bowling front, Mitchell Starc is the man to look out for after he picked up his second consecutive five wicket haul.
Glen Maxwell is also in good form with the ball, scalping 4 wickets at Perth. Clint McKay and Mitchell Johnson would look forward to taking some wickets in the third ODI. On the whole, the hosts are unlikely to make major changes as they have clicked as a unit so far.
West Indies:
Though West Indies displayed a better performance in the second ODI, there is still a big question mark about their competiveness in this series.
Apart from Kieran Powell and Dwayne Bravo who put up decent scores, the other batsmen have failed to contribute with the bat making it difficult for them to pressurize the opposition side.
There is a possibility of Narsingh Deonarine replacing Ramnaresh Sarwan due to the latter’s poor form. Chris Gayle needs a big innings to get his momentum back on track.
The West Indies is unlikely to make changes to the bowling side as they displayed a good performance with the ball in the second ODI.
Prediction:
Though the West Indies showed a comparatively better performance in the second ODI, it is unlikely that they could prove to be threatening for the Aussies who are playing on their home ground and will go on to clinch the series in the third ODI.