West Indies face Afghanistan in a crucial series decider in St. Lucia today, needing a victory now only to avoid a devastating series defeat but the embarrassment associated with losing to the ICC Associate side.
What was supposed to be an easy assignment for the Windies to placate their absence from the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy in England, has gone horribly wrong, leaving the three-match series level at 1-1 with everything to play for in the final One-Day International at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground starting at 2:30pm.
Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has been forced out of the contest after picking up a side strain in the second game, and has been replaced by Twenty20 specialist Kesrick Williams who was the leading bowler in the recent T20 series with eight wickets.
However, it is the batting which West Indies will need to focus on heavily as not a single batsman has passed 50 in the series. Shai Hope, at number three, has been their most reliable player, top-scoring in both games with 35 and 48 not out.
There was more bad news for the Windies on Tuesday with the latest ODI rankings showing the Caribbean side had dropped two points to 77 as a result of their loss in the first ODI, seeing them slip further behind in the race to qualify automatically for the 2019 World Cup in England.
