India 'A' face off with West Indies 'A' with series on the line

Smarting from their 55-run defeat in the second one-dayer, India ‘A’ will look to get back to winning ways and seal the three-match unofficial ODI series against West Indies ‘A’ when the two sides clash in the final 50-over game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday. The hosts started the series with a thumping 77-run win over the Caribbean side, mainly orchestrated by captain Yuvraj Singh’s brutal 89-ball 123, but in the second game, the visitors bounced back with a morale-boosting 55-run victory to level the series 1-1. [caption id=“attachment_1118201” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Yuvraj Singh has won one and lost one as India ‘A’ captain. AFP[/caption] The 25-year-old Jonathan Carter’s impressive 132-ball 133 defused India’s bowling attack and helped Windies A post a challenging 279 for six, before bundling out the hosts for 224. The Indian batsmen failed to fire collectively as there wasn’t a single half-century in the innings. But going into Thursday’s game, India would again depend on their batting unit with the likes of Robin Uthappa, Mandeep Singh, Unmukt Chand, Yusuf Pathan and Kedar Jadhav expected to come good. Yuvraj, who has been handed a lifeline to return to the ODI fold by being named the captain of the India ‘A’ side, would once again be the cynosure of all eyes and the dashing left-hander would be looking to continue his run-riot. Pathan, known for his savage hitting that he displayed in during his 32-ball unbeaten 70 in the first ODI, will also be keen to repeat his performance. The Indian openers, however, have not made enough contributions to give India ‘A’ a rousing start so far in the tournament. But the team would expect both Uthappa and Chand to give their best when it matters the most. The middle-order comprising Mandeep, Pathan, Jadhav and Naman Ojha would also look to make some significant contributions after having notched up good scores in the series opener. PTI