November 18 Monday 2002
India, Windies pin their hopes on batsmen

BARODA, India: India and West Indies will look to their batsmen to get the edge as they go into Monday's fifth match of their seven-match series level at 2-2.

Batsmen from both sides have made merry on flat pitches where bowlers have struggled. India won the Ahmedabad match on Saturday by achieving the third highest run-chase in one-day history, after West Indies had amassed 324.

The side chasing has emerged victorious so far and Indian captain Saurav Ganguly and his West Indies counterpart Carl Hooper expect the Baroda match to also be high-scoring. With India's 279 made in the 47-over second game in Nagpur being the lowest of the series, Ganguly felt strategies meant little.

Ganguly said 21-year-old fast bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji would make his India debut, replacing left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra from the 11 who scored a five-wicket victory in Ahmedabad. He also said he might withdraw from the final two games in Jodhpur and Vijayawada to be with his father, who is set to undergo his second heart bypass 
operation in England later this month. "If we win tomorrow I might go but let us see how it goes," he said.

West Indies skipper Carl Hooper said he was confident of taking the series despite India's sensational win. But Hooper felt his side could have benefited in their last serious competition before next year's World Cup if the series had been played on sporting pitches.

India: Sourov Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Vangipurappu Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Sanjay Bangar, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Javagal Srinath, Lakshmipathy Balaji.

West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ridley Jacobs, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Vasbert Drakes, Ricardo Powell, Cameron Cuffy. 

Umpires: Asoka De Silva and Arani Jayaprakash. Match referee: Mike Proctor.