Windies-India second ODI today

Since January 2016, the Indian top three of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have scored 1449 one-day international runs against West Indies at an average of 79.63. They will be looking to press this advantage against the hosts in the second ODI at Trinidad today.

Having swept the Twenty20 International series with a 3-0 margin, India looked ready to take that form into 50-over cricket in the first ODI at Guyana. However, the game was washed out with West Indies on 54/1 in 13 overs. This is now a must-win for both sides, since it will give the winning team a vital 1-0 lead going into the final game.

West Indies, who have failed to win a game in the series so far, will hope to get a positive result in this ODI. They have incurred six ODI losses in last seven games at the Queen’s Park Oval, four of which have come against India. Jason Holder and his team will be keen to improve that record. While Chris Gayle struggled in the first ODI – he was dismissed for a 31-ball 4 – he will have extra motivation going into this game: the left-hander is just seven runs away from displacing Brian Lara as West Indies’ top run-scorer in ODI cricket.

For India, skipper Kohli, who has scored the most runs against West Indies since January 2012 – 1332 at 78.35 – will be key for the visitors. Kuldeep Yadav, who claimed Gayle’s wicket in the first game, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the highest visiting wicket-taker at Port of Spain, will be expected to spearhead the bowling attack.

The forecast predicts cloudy conditions in the first half of play, which may assist the team that bowls first. However, the captains might be tempted to bat first since teams defending a total have won four out of the last six games played at this venue. A score of 300 has been crossed just twice at this ground in the last decade, both times by India.