Windies hunt crucial win

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC):

Injury-hit West Indies will try to deny Australia a series-winning victory in the third Digicel One-Day International at the Grenada National Stadium today.

After losing the first match by 84 runs and the second by 63 runs, West Indies find themselves in a desperate situation, a point which is not lost on coach John Dyson.

"We have to try and win the next game. It is as simple as that," he said.

With West Indies battling a series of injuries over the past few days, it is uncertain what line-up they will field.

Changes have been consistently made over the last three matches and the trend is likely to continue.

"It is matter of seeing who is fit and who is not fit and what the other selectors feel that we need to do to put the team on the park that gives us the best chance of winning," Dyson said.

Niggling injuries

The major concerns stem from captain Chris Gayle's long-term groin injury, a calf strain for Shivnarine Chanderpaul and a groin injury to Ramnaresh Sarwan, but a few other players are also suffering from niggling injuries.

In spite of the long spate of injuries, Dyson is not too concerned about the squad's overall level of fitness.

"You can have some injuries that are just unfortunate circumstances. Someone like Shiv bats and bats and bats in the nets and in the middle and runs up and down umpteen times," the coach said,

"His fitness for cricket is fine. He can handle all the situations. For some reason on one particular day, he gets a muscle strain. I wouldn't attribute that to anything else but something on that day that we don't know about."

With victories under the belt in the first two matches, Australia can wrap up the series with a third successive win that will leave West Indies playing merely for pride in the last two games.

Practice session

In the build-up to the match, West Indies had an afternoon practice session yesterday that was affected by rain, while the tourists were in the nets in the morning.

The hosts' batting has been a huge letdown throughout the series. In the opening ODI in St Vincent on Tuesday, they were dismissed for 189 off 39.5 overs, in pursuit of Australia's competitive 273 for eight.

In Friday's second match, the batting was again dismal. Chasing a moderate 214 for victory, they were in turmoil at 74 for seven before drifting to 140 for eight off 41 overs, after chasing a reduced target of 204 following a rain intervention.

Gayle has not fired since his return from injury, with scores of 20 and 10 and his opening partner Xavier Marshall has failed to recapture his Test form, and has scored 6 and 0.

The highest score from a West Indies batsman has been Chander-paul's 45 not out in Friday's losing cause.

Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke is keen on completing a clean sweep but he expects West Indies to be more competitive.

"Our game plan is to win every game we play and hopefully we will leave the West Indies winning 5-0. It is going to be an important game," he said.

Going to need luck

"I don't think West Indies are that far away from being competitive. Obviously, I want Australia to win every game, but West Indies are going to need a bit of luck and things to go their way.

"If they can get their full team on the park, we will be in for a good game if they are all fit."

Australia fast bowler Brett Lee needs one wicket to achieve 300 wickets in the shorter form of the game. If he gets it, he will be the quickest bowler in the game to the milestone.

A modest crowd watched Friday's match, but local officials are optimistic of a better turn-out today.

The teams (from): WEST INDIES - Chris Gayle (captain), Xavier Marshall, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Andre Fletcher, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Patrick Browne, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards.

AUSTRALIA - Ricky Ponting (captain), Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, David Hussey, Andrew Symonds, James Hopes, Luke Ronchi, Brett Lee, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark.