The West Indies and Ireland will today, at 2.30pm Irish time., switch attention to their one-off one-day international (ODI) at Sabina Park.
Ranked eighth and eleventh, respectively, in the ICC ODI rankings, the teams enter the contest with the hope of walking away with bragging rights, having shared their Twenty20 International series.
To be captained by Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies team will show changes. A number of players from the Twenty20 series have been omitted and others brought in.
Opener André Fletcher, pacer Krishmar Santokie and leg-spinner Samuel Badree have been left out, while young batsmen Darren Bravo and Kieron Powell, and left-spinner Nikita Miller head the list of players who have been brought in. Also called to the squad are batsman Kirk Edwards, and young fast bowlers Jason Holder and Miguel Cummins.
West Indies, in the meantime, will be without Chris Gayle, who, after complaining of a lower-back strain and missed the second Twenty20 on Friday, has been ruled out. His spot in the team has been taken by fellow opener Dwayne Smith.
Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, speaking to WICB Media yesterday, said he expected a very competitive match.
“We can overcome them if we play good cricket,” Ramdin said. He added: “The pitch has been slow, and they have a good bowling unit which will take the pace off the ball … . So we will have to work very hard and get a good start … someone batting through the innings will be very important for us. If we do bowl (first), to try to restrict them to as little as possible.”
Ireland’s coach, Phil Simmons, has expressed satisfaction with his bowlers.
“We have been trying for the last four to five months to get the bowlers to be able to use their skills, and that seems to be working well,” Simmons said at the end of the second Twenty20 on Friday.
The Irish are expected to field most of the players who featured in the Twenty20s. Their batting will again be led by former England batsman Ed Joyce, who on Wednesday completed his 100th match for Ireland; captain William Porterfield; Kevin O’Brien; and the in-form Gary Wilson.
Experienced fast bowler Alex Cusack, who was named Man of the Series for the Twenty20s and will be playing in his 51st ODI, is expected to lead the bowling for the visitors.
West Indies ODI squad: Dwayne Bravo (captain), Darren Bravo, Miguel Cummins, Kirk Edwards, Jason Holder, Nikita Miller, Sunil Narine, Kieron Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith.
Ireland ODI squad: William Porterfield (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, James Shannon, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.
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