Filed under IndvWI-3July09

In total, India have played 5 bilateral ODI series in West Indies, and beaten home team only once. sub-continent giants have lost 4 series against the mighty carribean team away from home. here's a summary of India vs West Indies ODI series over the years :-

1982, in West Indies : West Indies won 2-1.
1983, in India : West Indies won 5-0.
1987, in India : West Indies won 6-1.
1988, in West Indies : West Indies won 5-0.
1994, in India : India won 4-1.
1997, in West Indies : West Indies won 3-1.
2001, in West Indies : India won 2-1.
2002, in India : West Indies won 4-3.
2006, in West Indies : West Indies won 4-1.
2007, in India : India won 3-1.

If you pay attention, you'll find India only ODI series victory over west indies, in West Indies came back in 2001. Sourav Ganguly was the captain then. Now, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is India's leader and his team is 1-1 locked with windies with 2 more games to go in this 2009 Digicel 4 ODI series.

Can young India achieve what previous 4 other Indian teams have failed in? that only time will tell but what itsonlycricket.com can tell you is that weather prediction for this 3rd ODI at St Lucia ground isn't very ideal.. Scattered clouds are expected with some hot conditions.

West Indies will hope for some similar bounce in the pitch which they have utilised against shaking Indian top order in last 2 ODIs and the T20 meeting in World cup recently. on other hand, Indian coach Gary Kirsten will hope for an improved performance from his openers Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma. Gambhir has shown little signs of amazing form he was in 2 before IPL tournament in April. Rohit Sharma promised a lot before the T20 world cup a month ago but he has thrown away 6-7 opportunities at top order now. Another interesting aspect would be selection of Murali Vijay, the classical right handed opener waiting in the wings.

Harbhajan Singh is another man Indians would want to strike the form if they have to win this Digicel series. West Indies have traditionally failed against genuine spinners but Harbhajan's batting has more impression in past 2 games than his bowling. Pragyan Ojha is another option Indian captain may opt for.

Fact : Indians have never played an ODI at Beausejour ground in St Lucia, while West Indies have played 9. winning 5 (New zealand twice, England twice, Zimbabwe once) and losing 4 (twice to Pakistan, once to England and Australia). West Indies vs Sri Lanka match was rained off on 15 April 2008 at the venue.

Live Scores : of this 3rd one day international between India and West Indies on 3rd July 2009 will be available here on itsonlycricket.com and also on these live cricket score websites. Match Start time = 9.30am local St Lucia = 7pm India = 11.30pm Sydney/Melbourne = 9.30am Canada = 3.30pm Germany = 9.30pm Malaysia/Singapore, 1.30am New Zealand, 4.30pm Saudi Arabia, 3.30pm South Africa = 2.30pm UK = 8.30am Chicago in USA.

Preview : Can India improve on poor ODI series record in West Indies?

Scorecard : India vs West Indies, 3rd ODI, St Lucia : 3 July 2009

Rain, D/L, Karthik and Dhoni take India to unbeatable 2-1 lead.