Samuel Badree with an update: The drizzle has gotten heavier. The rain looks a little threatening. The good news is the drainage is good. It is raining heavier for the moment.
13:03 Local Time, 17:03 GMT, 22:33 IST: The toss should have happened by now. But unfortunately it is raining. There is a little drizzle. The covers are in place. The toss has been delayed. The pitch is dry, pretty dry, is what the word is. So in case the rain stops any time soon, we can have the toss and then the game.
Windies need a quick turnaround. It was a drubbing actually they received in the last game. Their batting collapsed and barring Motie, no bowler looked threatening as well. They have a few stern questions to answer. England with plenty of new faces seem to be on the right track.
England needed a little redemption. Their skipper - Jos Buttler - needed some redemption. England managed both in their last game. They won in a convincing manner and Buttler found some useful runs. Windies just never arrived. Hope and Rutherford tried a rearguard action but that didn't help them much. The series is 1-1 going into the final game.
Preview
The first ODI felt like a bit of a hangover from the disastrous World Cup campaign. Jos Butter looked off-colour and so did Sam Curran, who in turn bowled the most expensive ODI spell by an England bowler. And then came the second ODI at the same venue, except that this time around, a rejuvenated England outfit took the field. The vibe was different but it felt so familiar.
Curran, trusted with the new ball once again, redeemed himself with an incisive spell with the new ball as the visitors levelled the series in style. "It was a tough day the other day, but you need to keep moving forward and bounce back," he said after the game. "We did so many things right in that first game. The messages from the coaches and captain was just that. We had to come back today and put things right, which we did."
What England's win does is set up a tasty finale in Barbados. But that said, it was a missed chance for the West Indies, who after completing their second-highest ODI run-chase looked a shadow of themselves three days later. Shai Hope felt that his side were "not smart enough" in their six-wicket defeat and called upon his team to put in "more consistent performances".
West Indies have another chance at history though. They haven't beaten England in an ODI series at home since 1998, a trend of losing they would look to break out of. Nothing would be a better start to a new cycle after the lows of missing out on the World Cup.
What to expect: The last three games at the venue have been won by sides chasing. In the last ODI here, India were rolled over for 181 inside 41 overs, with Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd sharing six wickets between them. Expect spongy bounce, turn and overall bowler-friendly conditions once again. The weather is set to be fair, a standout in what's forecast to be a bit of a rainy week.
Team News:
West Indies: Could they bring some extra spinners into the side given the nature of the pitch here? Roston Chase and Kjorn Ottley, both of whom have warmed the bench so far, so come in with that option.
England: Tom Hartley, who last played against Ireland, is an option for an extra spinner.
Probable XI: Philip Salt, Will Jacks, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Brydon Carse/Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson
Did you know?
West Indies have lost three of their last five ODIs at the Kensington Oval
Jos Buttler's half-century in the second ODI was his first in 14 games
Shai Hope has 95 more career ODI runs than Jos Buttler in 60 fewer games
What they said:
"I've been playing for a while now so it's great when you get to those milestones after playing for a long period of time. It's been a frustrating time recently" - Jos Buttler, England captain, is relieved to get back among the runs.
"It's simple. We win the game, we win the series" - Shai Hope, WI captain, isn't in the mood to complicate things.
Squads:
England Squad: Philip Salt, Will Jacks, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Brydon Carse, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Tom Hartley, John Turner
West Indies
England
