West Indies v Pakistan, 3rd ODI, Barbados

Unchanged Pakistan bowl after delayed start

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan

April 28, 2011

Shahid Afridi had no hesitation in bowling first after winning the toss following heavy morning rain in Barbados which has reduced the third one-day international to 45 overs per side. If Pakistan win here they will take the series having cruised to victory in the two games in St Lucia and have named an unchanged side.

West Indies, though, have altered the balance of their team to try and keep the series alive. Andre Russell and Ravi Rampaul, the fast bowlers, have been recalled in place of legspinner Anthony Martin and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh which means Lendl Simmons will take the gloves.

Andre Russell

The first two matches in St Lucia were characterised by West Indies' inability to maintain any momentum against the Pakistan spinners, especially Saeed Ajmal who caused a mountain of problems. A few batsmen made starts, notably Simmons, but failed to build the substantial innings which has left an inexperienced attack too few runs to defend.

Pakistan have gone about their task in very efficient manner, with Ahmed Shehzad leading the way three days ago with a hundred, but the batsmen have barely needed to escape second gear to achieve their targets. It hasn't made for compelling viewing and the crowds in St Lucia were very disappointing considering it was the Easter weekend. West Indies, though, aren't giving the fans many reasons to turn up and watch.

West Indies 1 Lendl Simmons (wk), 2 Devon Smith, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Kirk Edwards, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Devendra Bishoo

Pakistan 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shahid Afridi (capt), 7 Mohammad Salman (wk), 8 Hammad Azam, 9 Junaid Khan, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Saeed Ajmal

Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo