Indore, India — West Indies will look to make it two wins in a row when they meet India in the fourth One-Day International at the Holkar Stadium on Thursday. A victory for the Windies would see them draw level 2-2 in the five-match series.
Speaking on Wednesday, captain Darren Sammy said the 16-run victory over India at the Sardar Patel Gujarat in Ahmedabad on Monday night, provided a much needed boost for his young team.
First ball in Thursday’s day-night match is 2.30 pm (5 am Eastern Caribbean Time/4 am Jamaica Time).
"This is a massive game for us but we won’t be putting any extra pressure on ourselves. We will go out and play with confidence and express ourselves. Morale of the team is good. All throughout this tour we kept coming close. It’s about taking the opportunity and grabbing it and winning. We did it in the last game, so the morale is definitely up some more. Winning is the ultimate goal. We will keep applying pressure. We want to go out and execute our plans tomorrow," Sammy said.
The West Indies left home in September where they drew 1-1 with England in the T20 Series at the Oval in London. They then won the ODIs 2-1 in Bangladesh and took the two-match Test series 1-0.
This was followed by the three Tests in India. The Windies lost the first two matches and then played to an exciting draw with the scores level in the final match. The One-Day series has so far produced three thrilling finishes and Sammy believes his players can make the final push to topple the home side.
"We now have two games left and most of the guys have been away from home for two-and-a-half months. We want to finish on a high. We have to believe we can win and take it down to Chennai for the final. So far in the series, both in Tests and ODIs, we had the opportunity to win. We took the last one and look forward to create another opportunity and take it," Sammy said.
The skipper was full of praise for fast bowler Ravi Rampaul, who took four wickets to bowl the Windies to victory by 16 runs.
"Ravi’s nickname is ‘Hawk’ and he has the heart of a lion in a hawk’s body. He always believes in himself. When he is performing he motivates the team and takes charge. He always gets early wickets for us. He has worked really hard to remain injury-free and I can see him doing many good things for us in the future.
The West Indies will be without left-hander Darren Bravo, who has not fully recovered from a left hamstring injury sustained in the third match.
"Darren Bravo is out for next game. We will miss Bravo in the line-up. Like we showed when Shiv (Chanderpaul) missed the third Test in Mumbai young Kieran Powell came in and took responsibility. It gives the opportunity for someone else to come out and make a name for himself. Our team is definitely improving. When we miss a guy, someone else has come in and performed well," Sammy said.