Cricket: India vs West Indies ODI Series

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4 game ODI series begins at 3.30am.

January 2007
Sun 21	1st ODI - Vidarbha C.A. Ground, Nagpur
Wed 24	2nd ODI - Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
Sat 27	3rd ODI - MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Wed 31	4th ODI - I.P.C.L. Sports Complex Ground, Vadodara

4pts West Indies to win ODI Series 9/2 VC These 2 sides have met a fair bit in recent times, West Indies lead the series 6-2 with wins over India in the Caribbean and Malaysia. With the World Cup so close now both sides have picked strong squads as the preparation continues. India have recalled Sourav Ganguly to the squad for this series. He'll be desperate to stake his case as the World Cup squads start to dwindle from 30 to 15 men. Interestingly there is no Munaf Patel in the squad. I've not heard of an injury so he may just be rested. Up and coming seamer Sreesanth is in the squad. West Indies have omitted 2 key men from their squad for this series but they are very strong here. Sarwan and Collymore have been left back home but the likes of Bradshaw, Bravo, Gayle, Lara and Chanderpaul all play. Barring the 2 mentioned, it's pretty much the same squad that made the Champions Trophy final on West Indies' last visit to these shores. West Indies have something of an Indian sign over the Indians recently and I think they will continue that here as India look more to building confidence than winning the series.

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Re: Cricket: India vs West Indies ODI Series Ok 1st ODI in Nagpur. 10pts West Indies to win 1st ODI 7/5 Sporting Odds As I mentioned in my outright tip these 2 have met a fair bit recently with West Indies holding a 6-2 advantage over India. Last time the West Indies played here they beat India by 7 wickets. India will open with Ghambir and Ganguly here with Tendulkar batting in the middle order. They will have to make a decision whether to play the extra spinner or an extra batsman. Given the high scoring nature of this Nagpur wicket I'd guess they'll go with the latter and use Ganguly and Tendulkar's bowling abilities. West Indies have few decisions to make. Their only real decision is where captain Lara will bat. He'll move up and down the order in the series depending on the situation. Their bowling attack will be similar to the one used in the Champions Trophy with Mohammed coming in as an extra spinner. Previous matches here have been high scoring and this one should be no different. West Indies have a much stronger batting lineup than the Indians and they will be confident with their recent head-to-head record over India. I take them to open the series with a win here. 10pts Windies Highest 1st 15 Overs 5/6 Betfred Chris Gayle and Shiv Chanderpaul have made a solid partnership at the top of the order and both have good records in India. Gambhir and Ganguly have rarely played together and Ganguly is under all sorts of pressure in this match. Iain Bradshaw is a wicket taker up front and West Indies should be able to keep India under control early doors, particularly with Dravid in at the fall of the 1st wicket. West Indies should be ahead after 15 overs. 10pts C.Gayle's Performance Pts 53&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 20pts per wicket. Chris Gayle has an exceptional record with the bat alone in India. In his 15 ODI's here he averages a decent 71.46. On his last visit to Nagpur he hit 103 off 116 balls so surroundings are obviously to his liking. If that wasn't enough he bowls canny spin which often takes wickets as he bowls towards the end of the innings when the slog is on. This guy is the best all rounder in the world right now and is capable of covering this. 10pts M.Samuels' Performance Pts 32&Over 5/6 Bet365 Points are scored as follows: 1pt per run, 10pts per catch & 20pts per wicket. Marlon Samuels kicked into gear in Pakistan recently and will be keen to perform well out here to cement his World Cup spot. He's an aggressive batsman who has now shown he can make centuries. He also bowls clever off spin too and takes wickets as well as being a good fielder. He's not the highest profile member of this side which make be why his target is a little low and I'm confident he'll also cover. 10pts Over 7 6's 6/5 Sporting Odds This isn't the biggest of grounds, particularly straight and as I've already said matches here tend to be high scoring. There's so much attacking power on display in this match that we simply have to see some 6's. The conditions are set fair for 6 hitting and I'm confident we'll get 8 or more. 2pts ew M.Dhoni Top Indian Bat 7/1 Boylesports (1/4 1,2,3) Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a class act. In South Africa he showed he's not all bish bash bosh and that he can play the responsible role when needs be. Truth is though he'll love these straight boundaries and when he gets going he can score very quickly indeed. There are lots of doubts around his team mates form and I expect a good tilt from India's wicket keeper.