West Indies will host Zimbabwe in the second ODI of the five match series at Providence in Guyana. The Zimbabweans had beaten West Indies in the first game of the series in a shocking two-run upset and will go into the game with much confidence having also won the one-off T20I.
West Indies (2/7 at Blue Square to equal the series) will start as favourites given their home conditions, and given the fact that, on paper, they are a far superior side to the Zimbabweans (11/4 at Boylesports to win the second game). However, with the tourists’ spinners wreaking havoc, the hosts will need to come up with a better strategy to be able to get the runs in the first Powerplay.
Chris Gayle (11/4 at 888Sport to be West Indies’ best batsman) has come down heavily on some of his middle-order players after the kind of shots they played in the first match. One can easily expect him to go after the Zimbabwean spinners who have so tactfully bound the West Indian batsmen. Dwayne Smith (12/1 at Boylesports), Kieron Pollard (7/1 at Sky Bet) and Denesh Ramdin (20/1 at Sky Bet, all to top-score for West Indies) could have easily avoided the strokes they played, and will need a big innings to win over their captain’s trust.
Adrian Barath (5/1 at Blue Square to top-score for his side) is the one talented youngster who has been spoken about a lot in the West Indian circles. He had had an excellent Champions League T20 for the Trinidad and Tobago side, but just to show that he can bat well in the longer formats as well, he scored a rather cautious half century in the first game.
Zimbabwe were benefitted by their top three batsmen. Hamilton Masakadza (4/1 at Boylesports to top-score for his side) did not kick on after his start, but both, Tatenda Taibu (9/2 at Blue Square) and Vusi Sibanda (9/2 at 888Sport both, to top-score for their side) did exactly that. Sibanda may have been rather excruciatingly slow, but the fact is that he won the game for his side, in the process winning the man of the match as well. I also like what I see of Taibu, confidence and converting it into runs as well.
Tips:
Favourites: West Indies (2/7 at Blue Square)
Top West Indian batsman: Chris Gayle (11/4 at 888Sport)
Top Zimbabwean batsman: Tatenda Taibu (9/2 at Blue Square)