LIVE India vs. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760: Men in Blue elect to bat first against the Windies
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 have won the toss and elected to bat first in their final Group B match of the ICC World Cup 2011 against West Indies at Chennai.
The result of Sunday’s match will decide the opponents of both teams in the quarterfinal round of the mega event.
The wicket at Chennai has support for both the batsmen and the bowlers. The batsmen need to apply themselves and play sensibly, as the pitch will not offer too many runs to them. Anything between 225 to 250 will be a very good total, as batting second will
not be easy.
India are without their explosive opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429, as the veteran batsman suffered an allergic reaction due to a painkilling injection. His spot is filled by middle-order batsman Suresh Raina, who has not featured in any World Cup match before this
one.
However, Raina will not bat at the top of the order. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623 will be opening the innings for his team alongside Sachin Tendulkar. The little master has given some tremendous performances in the mega event so far and received good support from Sehwag.
He will be looking to do the same with a new opening partner in the match.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Piyush-c82317 Chawla was given the preference.
However, bowling has been a weakness for the hosts, as they have not been able to defend huge totals posted by their batsmen. They will be hoping that Ashwin can get some wickets and give the right balance to the team.
On the other hand, the Windies have made some surprise changes to their team. They have rested Chris Gayle for this match and gave a chance to Kirk Edwards, who will make his debut in One Day International cricket.
Apart from that, the Caribbean Kings have also opted to rest fast bowler Kemar Roach, who has been in spectacular form in the tournament until now. Ravi Rampaul has replaced the express fast bowler whereas http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shivnarine-Chanderpaul-c90073 has been ignored for selection
yet again.
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