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The third ODI between West Indies and Pakistan will be played at Bridgetown in Barbados on Thursday. Pakistan lead the series 2-0 and a win here will give them a victory in the five-match series.
West Indies (5/2 at
bet365) have not had the best of results going their way for some time now. Apart from Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, they have not been able to overcome the other Test playing nations in a while and the way they have batted in the series so far, they have looked below par.
Two scores of around 220 in the series on tracks which have deserved much more put paid to their chances. The bowling has been decent but does not possess the sting to test the opponents at crucial junctures in the game and it will need a huge turnaround for the side to pull things back.
The top-order batting needs to click for the West Indian side. While Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo have exhibited some class, their issue has been two-fold; the quick cameos are not converted into big scores, and the bigger half-centuries come at the expense of the run-rate.
On the other hand, Pakistan (2/5 at
bet365) has had three simple games against their opposition, including the ten-wicket win in the World Cup 2011. All the top four batsmen have scored some runs; Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq and Misbah ul Haq.
The spinners have also managed to stall the West Indian scoring well, having conceded around 200 runs off the 60 overs that they have sent down. The home team needs to work things out in order to get the things moving for them.
Pakistan will be favourites to make it 3-0 and unless the Barbados track offers no assistance to the spinners, this could be over quite quickly.
