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Zimbabwe out to regain initiative against West Indies

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent - Zimbabwe will be looking to edge closer to becoming the latest visiting side to make history in the Caribbean, when the third One-day International against West Indies is contested on Wednesday at the Arnos Vale Multiplex.

Zimbabwe have never beaten West Indies in a bilateral ODI series, but the conditions, and their opponents’ penchant for self-destruction have combined to enhance their chances of creating their own bit of cricket history.

The five ODI series is currently level at 1-1, after the Zimbabweans won the first ODI last Thursday by two runs, and the hosts rebounded last Saturday to take the second ODI by four wickets.

The pitch at the Arnos Vale Multiplex is notoriously slow and low, and the Zimbabwe spin bowlers should again prosper and continue to put a squeeze on the feeble West Indies batting.

The Zimbabweans have suffered a setback with the news that Kyle Jarvis has been ruled out of the remainder of the series, after suffering a stress fracture in his lower back.

This will hurt Zimbabwe’s plans of fortifying their bowling attack, since the specialist seam bowlers they have tried in the series have been disappointing.

Shingirai Masakadza almost cost them the first ODI, when West Indies needed 15 from the final over, and he conceded 11 from the first three deliveries, and Christopher Mpofu also failed to impress in the second ODI, when he was easily the least economical bowler.

For West Indies, Dwayne Bravo and his younger brother Darren have pushed Andre Fletcher and Dwayne Smith out of the 14-member squad.

Ramnaresh Sarwan however, remains on the sidelines, as the West Indies Cricket Board have decided not to rush his return from a back injury.

All-rounder Dwayne Bravo has spent the last two months on the periphery, after breaking a thumb when playing for the Victoria Bushrangers in the Australia Twenty20 Big Bash in January.

His flamboyant batting, steady medium-fast bowling, and livewire fielding should give a boost to the home team which has found it hard to dislodge opponents rated below them in the World rankings.

The younger Bravo was dropped from the squad, following the T20I between the two sides, when he played an ill-advised pull shot for a first-ball duck.

The Arnos Vale Multiplex has been kind to West Indies in the 17 matches they have played here.

The home team has won 14 of the matches, but two of their three losses have come in the last two ODIs at the ground, where Pakistan won by 59 runs five years ago, and Australia triumphed by 84 runs two years ago.

Squads:

West Indies (from): Chris Gayle (capt), Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy

Zimbabwe (from): Prosper Utseya (capt), Hamilton Masakadza (v-capt), Elton Chigumbura, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Kyle Jarvis, Greg Lamb, Tim Maruma, Shingirai Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor

Start: 13:30 GMT