India vs West Indies Live Score, World Cup 2019: Unchanged India decide to bat first

LIVE BLOG | LIVE SCORECARD

End of Over 1: A wide, short-of-length delivery from Cottrell allows Rahul to get off the mark with a three. And then Rohit clips one off his hips for a single. 4/0

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul stride out for India. Sheldon Cottrell to open proceedings for West Indies.

The two teams have lined up for the National Anthems.



PLAYING XIs

India: Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wK), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope (wK), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (c), Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas



CAPTAIN TALK

Jason Holder: We wanted to bat as well. Hopefully we get early wickets. We have got two changes. Sunil Ambris comes in for Lewis and Fabian Allen comes in for Nurse. Evin's struggling for the last couple of days. We are getting closer. Today's another opportunity.

Virat Kohli: We are gonna bat first. Looks like a hard surface. It's a used pitch expect it will slow down. I think closing out situations and capitalising will be the key. Same team.

TEAM NEWS: India unchanged from their last match. West Indies bring in Sunil Ambris and Fabian Allen for Evin Lewis and Ashley Nurse.

TOSS NEWS: Virat Kohli wins the toss and India will bat first.



2:25 pm Toss coming up in just about five minutes. Meanwhile, Team India was in its signature huddle a few minutes back.



2:05 pm It's building up!



1:45 pm Here's a graphical representation of how the two teams stack up:

INDIA

WEST INDIES

1:30 pm The weather update from Manchester is clear skies with some overcast conditions towards the evening. In short, a full, uninterrupted game in the offing. But never underestimate the fickle English weather.

1:10 pm Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening wherever you are in the world! England's football capital, Manchester, has woken up to cricket frenzy as all roads lead to Old Trafford where Virat Kohli's India will play the men from the Caribbean, i.e., the West Indies in today's fixture of the ICC World Cup -- a face-off between the double World Cup champions.


It could actually be India's turn to knock at the semis door. Another win for the 1983 and 2011 champions will ensure they have a step inside the semis door. For West Indies, who won their second and last WC trophy way back in 1979, a defeat would mean end of the road.

As far as the points table is concerned, India are currently No. 3 with nine points and West Indies languish at No. 8 with just three points.



MATCH PREVIEW

After surviving a scare against Afghanistan in their last game, India will be looking to assert their World Cup title credentials with an authoritative performance against West Indies here on Thursday.

Having suffered batting blues against Afghan spinners at Southampton, it was clear India needed to focus on the issues faced by the middle order. Hence, MS Dhoni had a long nets session against spinners, including Ravindra Jadeja, as he has to regularly encounter spin during the middle phase of the innings.

Dhoni, who has of late found it difficult to force the pace against spinners, looked to attack most of the deliveries and even employed the sweep on a few occasions as head coach Ravi Shastri watched intently. Dhoni rarely plays the sweep shot and the stroke could be a potent weapon.

In the indoor nets, middle-order batsman Kedar Jadhav attempted big hits as he faced up to the bowling machine. Current No. 4 Vijay Shankar and opener K L Rahul were among those who batted long at the nets. India will take heart from their last batting performance at Old Trafford, earlier in this World Cup. Led by Rohit Sharma’s masterly 140, India ran up a formidable 336/5 against Pakistan.



While India will be looking to batting superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit to give momentum and substance to the innings, they will be hoping that Rahul, Dhoni and Jadhav ease concerns over the middle order.

Both Kohli and Sharma have brilliant ODI records against West Indies – the captain averages 70.76 over 32 games and the vice-captain 64.15 in 26 matches. If any one of them stays put for long, West Indies will be in trouble. Remove these two early and they can fancy their chances.

It’s unlikely that India will make any changes in the eleven which did duty in the last tie. But there could be a change in the batting order, and that will be interesting to note.

West Indies will want to test India with what is their traditional forte – pace and bounce. But they are unlikely to get much help from the Old Trafford pitch. Pakistani pacemen struggled to extract much life out of the track against India.



India may have to be more vigilant against Sheldon Cottrell, the left-hand mediumpacer who takes the new ball for West Indies, than the others in the Caribbean camp. Cottrell is an awkward customer. As it is, left-arm fast bowlers are having a great run in this World Cup.

The West Indies team practised on the outer practice ground as the ground was still wet from the rain it has received in the past 3-4 days. The weather cleared up when the Indian arrived for training and the players must have been relieved to be welcomed by sunshine.

India are obvious favourites to win this one, a result which will virtually seal a semifinal slot for them. West Indies came to the World Cup on the back of some strong performances which raised hopes among their followers. They began by gobbling up Pakistan for lunch. Since then, familiar failings have stymied their chances and they are now looking down the barrel.

As captain Jason Holder admitted, the team has not been able to put together a complete team performance since the first game. And he can be sure India will try and take advantage of every chink in West Indies’ armour.

India-West Indies contests have produced some great cricket over the years. This is the World Cup. The West Indians are great entertainers and the Indian team has its own dazzlers. It’s expected to be sunny on Thursday. Time for a rip-roaring game.