India vs West Indies, 3rd ODI, highlights: Shikhar Dhawan's ton helps hosts beat Windies by 5 wickets, clinch series 2-1

India face West Indies in the third and final ODI in Kanpur. Catch all the highlights from the game: (Match Scorecard | Text Commentary | Match Report)

1703 (IST): In the post-match presentation, Indian skipper MS Dhoni spoke about the importance of restricting the opponents after putting them in. He felt they bowled well with a lot of play-and-misses. Dhoni also said he felt it wasn't the usual Kanpur wicket. Dhoni also compared the bowling with the Australia series and praised the death bowling. Dhoni hailed the impact of the two spinners and Suresh Raina.

 

1656 (IST): Virat Kohli: "Yes just trying to make most of the form I am in right now. Ive been hitting the ball well and trying to do my basics well. Most important month coming up as we play in South Africa. I try to make the most of good form and try to score as many as I can. I've been hungry to score runs and it is working well for now. South Africa series will be a challenge and we relish a challenge and we will not disappoint the fans there."

1652 (IST): Shikhar Dhawan: "Its been a good year for me and thanks to god I am doing well for India. We play on these kind of tracks in New Delhi and it helped me play my game. I wanted to make a big score today after missing out in the first two games. I am very happy with my form and the team is doing really great."

1650 (IST): Dwayne Bravo: "Darren Sammy played a magnificent innings and Marlon Samuels played well. I think we lost wickets at crucial times, Lendl Simmons and myself getting out at crucial times. 280-290 could have been a different ball game. But, we know India's batting line-up. I am pleased with my team's performance. A win against the number one team is a positive. Ravi Rampaul had a good series."

 

1644 (IST): FACTOID: Virat Kohli (204) ends as the highest run-scorer while Ravi Rampaul, with 7 wickets, finishes as the bowler with highest number of wickets in the three-match series.

 

1637 (IST): Half-centurion Yuvraj Singh reflected on his knock and spoke of batting well but not getting enough runs. He praised Shikhar Dhawan's batting and said that he was looking to spend some time in the middle. The two paced wicket got easier with time and he planned to get through the tough phase to get some runs under his belt. Yuvraj also said he was delighted for Shikhar who he feels has matured as a batsman.

 

1633 (IST): India clinch the three-match ODI series 2-1 with a five-wicket win in the third and final ODI at Kanpur.

 

Despite good batting performances from Kieran Powell (70), Marlon Samuels (71) and Dwayne Bravo (51), it was India's Shikhar Dhawan's century that stole the show on the final day of West Indies' tour of India. Dhawan's stroke-filled century, coupled with vital contributions from Yuvraj Singh (55) and Suresh Raina (34) took the hosts to a comfortable victory on a wicket that had very little for the bowlers. The Windies were poor in the two Tests but will be proud of their win in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam and the fact that they managed to push a high-ranked ODI side to the wall.

 

1615 (IST): Dwayne Bravo's knack of picking up wickets at the end of an innings comes to the fore as he gets Raina to edge a delivery straight to Charles behind the stumps. India 255/5 in 43 overs, needing 9 runs from 42 balls.

 

1608 (IST): Rampaul starts off with a short ball and the lack of pace and extra bounce enable Dhoni to comfortably pull it to long-leg for an easy boundary. Seven runs from the over. India 242/4 in 41 overs, needing 22 runs from 54 balls.

 

1604 (IST): Oh boy, the ball slips out of Jason Holder's hand during his run up and rolls towards the middle of the pitch. Only two runs from the over. India  235/4 in 40 overs, need 29 runs from 60 balls.

 

1559 (IST): Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has been spotted in the stadium, talking to Rajeev Shukla.

 

1557 (IST): Ravi Rampaul comes back for his final spell of two overs. He gives away five singles and a wide. India 229/4 in 39 overs, needing 35 runs to win from 66 balls.

 

1550 (IST): Despite the wicket, Bravo continues to be erratic. He has conceded 52 runs in eight overs. India 224/4 in 38 overs, needing 40 runs to win from 72 balls.

1546 (IST): Shikhar Dhawan departs to a soft dismissal, hitting one back to bowler Dwayne Bravo. His of 119 off 95 deliveries has been the foundation on which the Indian skipper MS Dhoni can take his side to a series win. India 218/4 in 37.2 overs, needing 46 runs to win from 78 balls.

 

1540 (IST): Boundaries are coming in plenty for the centurion here. Dhawan straight drives Dwayne Bravo to collect his 20th four. Dhawan has now surpassed his previous best ODI score of 116. He has had an exceptional year since his sensational Test debut in Mohali against Australia.

 

1534 (IST): Raina picks up a full toss from Permaul plays it through covers to earn the first boundary of his innings. However, the over fetches just six runs for the hosts. India 207/3 in 35 overs, needing 57 runs to win from 90 deliveries.

 

1528 (IST): 200 comes up for India in 33.2 overs. India need 64 runs to win from 100 deliveries.

1525 (IST) : Permaul comes back for his second over and both Dhawan and Raina come down the track to the pitch of the ball to negate the turn and pick up easy singles. The asking rate has gone below four runs an over now. The crowd is going into 'we want six' chants. Four runs collected from that over. India 198/3 in 33 overs.

 

1517 (IST): FACTOID: Shikhar Dhawan is the first player to score five ODI hundreds in 2013. (Read more)

 

1516 (IST): Birthday-boy Suresh Raina comes into the attack. Good time for him to show some form with bat, having gone 10 matches without a half-centuries.

 

1512 (IST): Sunil Narine (finally) gets the better of Yuvraj Singh. After countless deliveries going past the outside edge of the left-hander's bat, Narine manages to induce a thick outside edge that carries to Dwayne Bravo at first slip. A welcome wicket but has it come a bit too late?

 

1509 (IST): Bravo is back and bowls four dots before Yuvraj unleashes an elegant cut shot to get a boundary. The over ends with an outside edge that runs away to the third man boundary. India 190/2 in 30 overs. The hosts need 74 runs to win from 20 overs.

1504 (IST): While Yuvraj was busy grinding out a tough half-century, Dhawan brought up his stroke-filled century off just 73 balls - his fifth in ODIs. In the process, he becomes the fifth Indian to score five tons in a calendar year.

 

1503 (IST): A flick on the leg side brings up Yuvraj Singh's 51st half-century. A gritty knock from the flambouyant southpaw. His knock has taken him 68 deliveries.

 

1458 (IST): FACTOID: India boasts of a 100% win record every time Shikhar Dhawan has scored 50 or more across formats. It has happened 10 times before and India look on course to increase that tally to 11 today.

 

1455 (IST): Rampaul comes back and bowls from round the wicket. He manages to beat Dhawan's bat before the latter stood tall at the crease and punched the ball to the cover boundary to bring up the 100-run stand for the third wicket. Dhawan finishes the over by stepping down the track and hitting another one through covers. He moves into the 90s. India 162/2 in 26 overs, chasing West Indies' total of 263.

 

1449 (IST): At the half-way stage, India have managed to reach 153/2. Barring Ravi Rampaul at the start and Sunil Narine through the middle, none of the bowlers could trouble the Indian batsmen and exert enough pressure.

 

1446 (IST): This duo is in a hurry now. A slog sweep in front of square from Yuvraj takes India past the 150-run mark.

 

1434 (IST): Veerasammy Permaul is finally brought into the attack. He gets the ball to turn sharply but poor length allows Dhawan to get on top of the over and collect a couple of boundaries and a three. 14 runs from the over. India 130/2 in 22 overs, chasing West Indies' 263.

 

1433 (IST): With Sammy and Dwayne Bravo going for runs, part-timer Simmons came on to try his luck in breaking a partnership that is looking set to take India through. Yuvraj, who struggled in the previous over against Narine, looked comfortable against the right-arm medium pacer.

(Read how Shikhar Dhawan scored his half-century)

1428 (IST): Lendl Simmons replaces Darren Sammy.

1427 (IST): Narine continues to trouble Yuvraj. The Indian batsman looks clueless against the tweaker's variations and is happy to see off an entire over. India 112/2 in 20 overs.

 

1424 (IST): Yuvraj shows signs of confidence. Sammy tests him with a short delivery and Yuvraj goes on the front foot and pulls him to the mid-wicket boundary. He follows it up with a trademark pull with his back leg in the air, showing glimpses of Yuvraj of the old. The over finished with a single. India 112/2 in 19 overs, chasing West Indies' total of 263.

 

1420 (IST): Oh..a half chance! Dhawan cuts hard at a delivery from Narine that holds its line and the top edge flies past Darren Sammy at first slip. It was too quick for Sammy to get his hands behind it. 100 comes up for India. This partnership between Dhawan and Yuvraj could be vital to lay the foundation for a possible Dhoni onslaught later on, if required. India 101/2 in 18 overs, chasing West Indies' total of 263.

1413 (IST): Shikhar Dhawan brings up his sixth ODI fifty off just 43 balls with a drive through the off-side. His pacy innings is laced with nine boundaries so far. India need him to stay on for as long as possible in this tricky chase.

 

1410 (IST): Narine unleashes the carrom ball and has Yuvraj playing a forward defensive stroke to it. The Windies go up in a big appeal but Rob Tucker did not see that going on to hit the stumps. Narine wastes an opportunity to mount pressure on Yuvraj by bowling a full delivery on the leg side. The left-hander flicks it for a boundary with ease. India 90/2 in 16 overs.

 

1406 (IST): Darren Sammy comes on to bowl and he too has a poor leg-side delivery to offer to Dhawan who hits it to the fine leg boundary. A tidy over otherwise. Just two more runs from it. India 84/2 in 15 overs.

 

1358 (IST): All eyes on Dhawan as Jason Holder returns to bowl. The Indian southpaw is not done intimidating the big West Indian as he walked out of his crease but defended the ball in the end. He does well to keep him down in the first half of the over but Dhawan picked up an half-volley and hit it over the in-field to the mid-wicket boundary. Dhawan then, cut the final ball but couldn't beat the point fielder. India 77/2 in 13 overs.

 

1350 (IST): FACTOID: Ravi Rampaul became the 14th West Indian bowler to pick up 100-plus wickets in ODIs when he dismissed Virat Kohli.

 

1346 (IST): Both Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh show enough respect for Narine and play him out. Just a single each. India 64/2 in 10 overs. At this stage, the visitors were on 39/1.

 

1344 (IST): India waited for 18 overs before introducing spin. Dwayne Bravo takes half the number of overs to turn to Sunil Narine. With two lefties in the middle, the move could be a game changing one.

1340 (IST): 100 ODI wickets for Ravi Rampaul! Big, big scalp for the West Indies here! Kohli departs after being stuck in two minds on whether to play at a ball or not. He half-heartedly takes his bat away but is too late as the ball hits the face of the bat and Johnson Charles takes a simple catch behind the stumps. India 61/2 in 8.4 overs.

 

1336 (IST): Fifty comes up for India. A schoolboy error in the deep from Lendl Simmons helped India take another boundary. India 54/1 in 8 overs.

 

1338 (IST): Dhawan can do this all day long! Rampaul bowls one on his pads and Dhawan guides it effortlessly to the fine leg boundary.

 

1331 (IST): Kohli is not done with reaching out to wide deliveries! This time he gets a top edge that sails over the slips and runs away to the third man boundary. Rampaul does well in the next couple of balls but Kohli gets behind the penultimate one and drives it through covers, only for Lendl Simmons to put in a diving save. Six runs taken from the over. India 43/1 in 7 overs.

 

1327 (IST): Kohli and Rohit rotate strike before the former stretches out and hits the ball just in front of square boundary. It was a risky attempt, given that a fielder was stationed at point. India 37/1 in 6 overs.

1324 (IST): Captain Dwayne Bravo is the new bowler.

 

1323 (IST): Ravi Rampaul follows the wicket up with four dot balls to new man Virat Kohli to finish with a wicket-maiden. India 29/1 in 5 overs.

 

1320 (IST): Rohit Sharma falls! Its a familiar looking dismissal as the in-form opener pushed at a ball bowled marginally outside the off-stump and an outside edge carried to skipper Dwayne Bravo at first slip. India 29/1 in 4.2 overs.

 

1317 (IST): Jason Holder is struggling here. He is unable to get into rhythm with Dhawan opening his arms and playing shots on either side of the wicket. This is also Dhawan at his devastating best. Dwayne Bravo needs to think and act quickly before the Indian southpaw takes the game away from the visitors.  India 29/0 in 4 overs.

 

1313 (IST): Ravi Rampaul manages to keep Rohit Sharma silent but a bit of width to Dhawan leads to another cut shot that takes the ball to the backward point boundary. India 20/0 in 3 overs.

 

1310 (IST): First boundary of the Indian innings comes off Shikhar Dhawan's willow in the second over by Jason Holder. His eyes lit up on seeing a poor delivery on his pads and he flicked it behind square. Holder bowls the same line and length and Dhawan produces a similar shot, this time with better precision as the fielder in the deep had no chance to stop it from reaching the boundary. The pressure on Holder was mounting and he followed up two bad deliveries on the pads with an over-pitched one outside the off-stump. Dhawan goes down on one knee and smacks it through covers to pick up 13 runs from the over. India 15/0 in 2 overs.

 

1300 (IST): Ravi Rampaul starts the proceedings with Rohit Sharma taking strike. India need 264 runs to clinch the three-match ODI series.

 

1233 (IST): Marlon Samuels spoke at the innings break and rued the fact that he missed a century in this series, having scored one against Pakistan in the previous one. The wicket, he feels, cannot be judged and will surely do a bit early on. Samuels expects 'mystery' spinner Sunil Narine to play a big role if they are to stun the hosts and clinch the series.

 

1229 (IST): Darren Bravo starts the final over with flick through to the deep mid-wicket. Sammy, who came on strike for the third ball of the over, is served a low full toss which he can only hit to the fielder in the deep and take a single. Bravo attacks a ball bowled outside the off-stump but it goes straight to the fielder. The batsmen pick up a quick single. Darren Bravo scores a couple of runs to bring up his 15th half-century, the third of his series to take West Indies to 263/5 in 50 overs.

 

1224 (IST): Mohit Sharma is handed the penultimate over and he starts poorly with a short and slow delivery which Sammy slams over deep mid-wicket for a six. Lethargic fielding from Rohit Sharma in the deep allows Sammy to pick up a couple in the second ball and put the pressure on Mohit. The Indian pacer does well to bowl a low full toss outside the off-stump which Sammy under-edges to the short fine leg fielder and collects a single. Mohit comes around the wicket and bowls a wide to bring up the fifty-run partnership between Bravo and Sammy off just 40 deliveries. Mohit fails to get a hold of his length and provides an early Christmas gift to Bravo in the form of an over-pitched delivery that is duly sent to the cover boundary. Sammy struck a powerful drive through mid-off only for Rohit Sharma to get well behind the ball and save it from going past the ropes. 17 runs taken from the over. West Indies 251/5 in 49 overs.

 

1215 (IST): Darren Bravo gets into the act and thwacks one over long on for a six off Shami. A big appeal for a caught behind off the next delivery but debutant umpire AK Chaudhary is unmoved. Replays suggest that was a very good call. A single brings Sammy to strike who picks the slower delivery and slams it for a straight six - the second one of the over. Shami follows up with a couple of sharp yorkers with Sammy picking up a single off the last ball. West Indies 236/5 in 48 overs.

 

1210 (IST): There comes the familiar Sammy heave. But he can't beat the Rohit Sharma in the deep. Sammy gets two runs as Jadeja finishes with one for 49 from his 10 overs. West Indies 222/5 in 47 overs.

 

1208 (IST): Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns for his eighth over. Sammy is slowly getting into the mode where he gets behind the ball and puts all his might behind it. He gets a boundary thanks to poor fielding from substitute fielder Ambati Rayudu. West Indies 216/5 in 46 overs.

 

1203 (IST): Bravo slams a length delivery from Jadeja to the boundary and follows it up with an attempted slog behind square that fetches him just a single. West Indies 207/5 in 45 overs.

 

1200 (IST): Jadeja follows up a good over with a diving save at point. It's very hard to keep this man out of action. Shami strangles Sammy on the crease and gets the ball to go through his bat and pad. Sammy needs to hang on here. He displayed his big-hitting prowess in the Visakhapatnam ODI and needs to do it once again here. He picks up a couple of runs in the last ball of the over. 200 comes up for West Indies. 201/5 in 44 overs.

 

1155 (IST): Jadeja continues and troubles Sammy with a ball that was pushed quicker through the air and beat Sammy's forward defensive stroke. He has only two runs to give away. West Indies 198/5 in 43 overs.

 

1152 (IST): The platform is set for incoming batsman Darren Sammy to blaze away to help West Indies to a good total. They've lost half their side but with just eight overs remaining, Sammy can take his risks.

1151 (IST): Skipper Dwayne Bravo is dismissed by Shami as the former went for an expansive drive on the up and failed to clear Ashwin at super cover. He goes for just four runs. West Indies 196/5 in 41.5 overs.

 

1143 (IST): Dhoni brings back Mohammed Shami into the attack. Exceptional over as the Bravo brothers collect only three singles from it. West Indies 190/4 in 40 overs.

 

1137 (IST): Ravindra Jadeja is now the highest wicket-taker in 2013 with 51 wickets as he sends back Lendl Simmons. The right-handed aggressive batsmen collected two boundaries in the over but went for one shot too many and perished in the process. In a bid to cut a length delivery, he edged the ball and MS Dhoni did well to take a sharp catch. West Indies 187/4 in 39 overs.

 

1133 (IST): Darren Bravo cuts a short delivery but a brilliant stop from Raina at first slip saves a certain boundary. Ashwin pitches the next delivery up a bit and Bravo attemps a similar shot, only to under edge it for a couple of runs. Ashwin finishes off with figures of two for 44 in his quota of 10 overs. West Indies 178/3 in 38 overs.

 

1125 (IST): Ashwin into his penultimate over at the start of the batting powerplay. Has he cleaned him up there? Samuels is not sure but Dhoni has walked down to celebrate with his bowler. The ball turned and went through Samuels bat and pad gap to clip the top of leg-stump. Ashwin has delivered the second massive blow. Samuels departs for 71 off 93 balls. West Indies 168/3 in 35.3 overs.

 

1119 (IST): Dhawan puts in an exemplary sprint and dive to save three runs at long off. Jadeja continues to give very little away. Three runs from the over. Drinks have been called for. West Indies 164/2 in 35 overs.

 

1116 (IST): Darren Bravo clears Yuvraj Singh at long-off. Ashwin bowled a full delivery which was picked up well by the West Indian southpaw to just about put the ball out of Yuvraj's reach. Replays suggest Yuvraj was in two minds on whether to attempt the catch. Ashwin comes round the wicket and offers a short delivery that is pulled in front of square. 13 runs taken from the over. West Indies 161/2 in 34 overs.

 

1111 (IST): Virat Kohli puts an easy catch down! That was a straightforward chance at first slip and Kohli failed to latch on to the ball that was guided straight to his hands by Samuels. Jadeja is visibly distraught. A good over for the hosts comes to an end with just three runs from it. West Indies 149/2 in 33 overs.

1110 (IST): Ashwin finishes his seventh over. He started poorly but has done exceedingly well to put the pressure on the West Indian batsmen. He has conceded just 22 runs in seven overs. West Indies 145/2 in 32 overs.

 

1102 (IST): Ravichandran Ashwin strikes! A much-needed breakthrough for India. Powell, who did well to get his eye in has perished with a poor attempted sweep, with the top-edge carrying to Shikhar Dhawan at short fine leg. Powell departs for 70 off 81 deliveries. West Indies 137/2 in 29.2 overs.

 

1100 (IST): Sir Ravindra Jadeja into the attack and a loud appeal ensues immediately. Samuels brings up his seventh ODI half-century against India, his 23rd overall. He looked restless at the start of his innings but has done well to complement Powell at the other end. Samuels took 73 balls to bring up his 50, an innings laced with five fours and six. Seven runs come from the over.

 

1054 (ST) The 100-run partnership between Powell and Samuels for the second wicket comes up as Powell paddle sweeps Raina for four. WI 125/1 (27.3 overs).

 

1046 (IST): Fifth ODI half-century for Powell. He has carried off from where he left in the previous game at Vishakapatnam. He gets his knock in 66 deliveries. West Indies need him to last the entire 50 overs to guide them to a good total here.

 

1040 (IST): There comes the 'stop-and-deliver' from Ashwin. It lasts only for two deliveries though. Just one run from the over. West Indies 103/1 in 23 overs.

1038 (IST): 100 comes up for the West Indies. They have done well to stay focused and not lose their way like they did at Kochi. They will need to keep this going if they are to post a total that can challenge the Indian battling line-up.

 

1035 (IST): Suresh Raina comes into the attack. He delivers a long hop and Samuels hits it through backward point to the boundary. Raina bowls a better line and length to the left-handed Powell. Six runs from the over. West Indies 97/1 in 20 overs.

 

1032 (IST): Dhoni introduces Ravichandran Ashwin and Samuels comes down the wicket to score the first six of the innings. Ashwin bowls a bit short and is duly punished as Samuels goes on the back foot and punches the ball between point and cover fielder to the boundary. 10 runs from the over. West Indies 91/1 in 19 overs.

 

1027 (IST): Mohit comes round the wicket but strays outside leg stump with a short delivery which Powell pulls behind square to the boundary with ease. The following delivery is much fuller with the batsmen pinching a quick single. Six runs from the over. West Indies 80/1 in 18 overs.

1024 (IST): The wicket still has something for the fast bowlers. Shami gets the ball to beat Samuels's bat twice in as many deliveries. He maintains an extremely tight line and length to complete the first maiden over of the day. West Indies 74/1 in 17 overs.

 

1020 (IST): Birthday boy Suresh Raina registered his best bowling figures (3/34) in ODIs in the first game against the West Indies in Kochi. He won't mind rolling his arm over today.

1018 (IST): Still no sign of spin as Mohit continues. He is into his fifth over and concedes just two singles off it. West Indies 74/1 in 16 overs.

 

1010 (IST): Shami comes back well after conceding a boundary off the first delivery. Just one more run from the remaining five deliveries. West Indies 72/1 in 15 overs.

 

1008 (IST): Change of ends for Mohammed Shami. Powell welcomes him with a glorious drive through mid-off to bring up the fifty-run parnership for second wicket. West Indies 71/1 in 14.1 overs

1005 (IST): Mohit comes back into the attack and straight away an Samuels looks to take him on. The result of that is an outside edge that goes wide of the second slip fielder and runs away to the third man boundary. He finishes the over with a beautiful punch through mid on for a boundary to collect 10 runs from the over. The Windies are starting to settle down here. Not long before Dhoni introduces spin. West Indies 67/1 in 14 overs.

1000 (IST): A disciplined over from Bhuvneshwar is undone by an over-throw by him at the non-striker's end which misses the stumps and runs away to the boundary. West Indies 57/1 in 13 overs.

 

0955 (IST): Kieran Powell takes West Indies past the 50-run mark with a boundary on the leg side. MS Dhoni clearly not happy with Shami bowling on the leg side after having a packed off-side field. Powell, who scored a half-century in the previous game, has started well and needs to go on to make a big score if West Indies are to stun the hosts. West Indies 51/1 in 12 overs.

0949 (IST): FACTOID: The Green Park Stadium in Kanpur was established way back in 1945 with the first Test played between India and England in 1952 which the visitors won by 8 wickets.

0947 (IST): West Indies reach 39/1 in the first 10 overs. It's been a very measured approach from the visitors so far, with an odd boundary every second over. Shami finishes the over with a ball at 145 kmph.

 

0940 (IST): Bhuvneshwar completes his fifth over with Samuels pulling a short ball to the deep mid-wicket boundary. Rohit Sharma at mid-wicket looked to have got a hand on the ball but failed to latch onto it. 37/1 in 9 overs.

 

0935 (IST): Powell takes the aerial route after three dot deliveries and gets a boundary over covers. It was a short delivery from Shami and Powell walked out to get a boundary. West Indies 32/1 in 8 overs.

0933 (IST): Mohammed Shami comes into the attack.

 

0932 (IST): Bhuvneshwar squares up Samuels but a mis-field from Yuvraj at fourth slip results in a four through third man. Bhuvneshwar comes back with a well-disguised slower delivery and one that comes in sharply. West Indies 28/1 in 7 overs.

 

0928 (IST): A good, tidy over from Mohit. He gives nothing away in the first four deliveries and then comes around the wicket to get the ball to leave the left-handed Powell. The over, however, ends with a boundary through the off-side. West Indies 24/1 in 6 overs.

 

0923 (IST): Marlon Samuels walks out and Bhuvneshwar welcomes him with a delivery that came back sharply into the right hander. West Indies 20/1 in 5 overs.

 

0921 (IST): There comes the first wicket! Bhuvneshwar had been getting the ball to go away from Charles (11) and suddenly let one nip back sharply to breach his defence and uproot the leg stump. West Indies 20/1 in 4.5 overs.

 

0920 (IST): Three slips in place for Charles as Bhuvneshwar continues to get the ball to shape away slightly from the right hander.

 

0917 (IST): Its a cautious start by the Windies openers here. Powell and Charles are happy to rotate strike and keep the scoreboard ticking. An outside edge off Powell's bat falls just short of Ravichandran Ashwin at first slip who fails to collect the ball on one bounce to give the batsmen a single. A quick single is then collected to finish the over. West Indies 16/0 in 4 overs.

 

0913 (IST): Bhuvneshwar continues and gets the ball to move away from Charles. The batsman threw his bat at the fourth delivery and got a single through third-man. West Indies 12/0 in 3 overs.

 

0907 (IST): Mohit Sharma starts the proceedings from the other end. He allows Powell to dab one on the leg side for three runs. West Indies 8/0 in 1.5 overs.

 

0905 (IST): After a couple of nervy hits-and-misses, Charles drives Bhuvneshwar through cover for four. The ball is doing a bit here. India will need a wicket or two in the first ten overs to get grip of the game.

 

0855 (IST): Players making their way out in the middle. Johnson Charles takes strike. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the ball in his hand.

 

0840 (IST): India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma

West Indies: Kieran Powell, Johnson Charles, Marlon Samuels, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Sunil Narine, Veerasamy Permaul, Jason Holder, Ravi Rampaul

 

0830 (IST): Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first. He expects a bit of help for the faster bowlers early on. India field an unchanged squad.

 

West Indies skipper Dwayne Bravo says he would have wanted to field first too. But looks at this as an opportunity for the batsmen to put up a big score and try to win a series against a highly-ranked team. West Indies too play the same side.

0820 (IST): Pitch Report: Ravi Shastri reckons the wicket is a flat bed and will only get better and if the batsmen manage to negotiate the first half-an-hour, then it could be tough for the side bowling first. He also mentioned that there will not be any kind of odd bounce and will be better-suited for the batsmen. Harsha Bhogle says that the ground staff ran the super-soppers around early in the morning to keep dew out of the picture at the start of the game.

 

0810 (IST): FACTOID: Pakistan's Shahid Afridi came close to breaking his own record of the fastest century in ODIs (37 balls) in 2005 in a game against India at the Green Park Stadium. Chasing India's total of 250, Afridi sent the Indian bowlers on a leather hunt with a 46-ball knock that included nine sixes.

 

0805 (IST): FACTOID: Exactly 20 years ago today, Anil Kumble weaved his magic in Eden Gardens to get India an unlikely win in the Hero Cup final over the West Indies with his career-best ODI figures of six for 12. Can Ravichandran Ashwin pay his tribute to 'Jumbo' with a similar performance today? Jadeja too would be keen to dismantle the West Indian batting order.

 

0800 (IST): Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the third and final One-Day International (ODI) between India and West Indies at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. After timid performances in the two-Test series, the visitors have shown their true potential to take the three-match ODI series till the final game.

 

Match Preview:

Unfavourable bowling conditions may have pegged them back in the last match but India will look to assert their supremacy and clinch the series against the West Indies when the two teams clash in the decisive third One-day International, in Kanpur on Wednesday.

India have been a dominant force in this contest since West Indies' arrival to the country but the hosts suffered a surprise two-wicket defeat in Visakhapatnam, failing to defend a competitive total under difficult conditions.

That victory must have boosted confidence of the West Indies who would now aim to leave the country by pocketing at least the ODI series, following their forgettable performance in the Tests.

The visitors, for the first time on this tour, will approach a match with self-belief and confidence.

For India, it is last international match at home before they embark on a challenging tour of South Africa and they would like to finish this series on a high.

The Indian batting line-up sports a solid look. The top three -- Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni -- have been the real force behind India's batting in the recent months.

With scores of 86 and 99 in the two matches in the series so far, Kohli, in particular, has been in scintillating form. But it is the form of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina in the middle order which will be a cause of concern for Dhoni ahead of the series decider. (Read full preview)

 

Stats:

 

Dhoni's blue-eyed boy Ravindra Jadeja is currently the joint highest wicket-taker with Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal in ODIs in 2013. He would fancy his chances of taking a good lead after today. In the opposition camp, Ravi Rampaul is just two short of 100 wickets tally.

 

Squads:

 

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma,Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Ambati Rayudu, Vinay Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat

West Indies: Kieran Powell, Johnson Charles(w), Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo(c), Darren Sammy, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Veerasammy Permaul,Jason Holder, Tino Best, Narsingh Deonarine, Denesh Ramdin.

 

Vizag win showed we can beat India in India: Dwayne Bravo

The series-levelling win in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam gave a struggling West Indies the self-belief that they can beat India at their own backyard, the visiting team skipper Dwayne Bravo said here on Tuesday.

After the six-wicket loss to India in the first ODI at Kochi, West Indies pulled off a narrow two-wicket victory against the hosts in the next match to liven up the three-match rubber.

"Winning the last game gave us the confidence and the belief that we can actually beat India in India," Bravo said on the eve of the third and deciding ODI at the Green Park stadium, which would be hosting an international match after nearly four years.

"From our point of view, we are just focused on improving on our previous performances and try to play together as a team more consistently. In the last five encounters we've had with India in ODIs, we've won two and lost three.

"So, the game will be very important to get even and of course win the series," said the West Indies captain.

Bravo conceded that it will take something "special" from the Caribbean side to beat the Indians in two consecutive matches at home. (Read more)

Series win against West Indies will boost our confidence for South Africa series: Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar feels a win in the third and deciding ODI against West Indies on Wednesday will raise the morale of the team ahead of a tough tour to South Africa, starting in December.

The third ODI at Kanpur holds great significance for both India and West Indies as the series is currently tied at 1-1 after the visitor's secured a close two-wicket win in the last game at Visakhapatnam. India had won the first match by six wickets at Kochi.

"Tomorrow's match will be a crucial one. It is important in the context of the South Africa series. Our morale would be high going into South Africa tour if we can win the series," Bhuvneshwar said at the pre-match press conference at the Green Park Stadium, which is hosting an international game after nearly four years.

Giving special significance to the match, Bhuvneshwar said he was eyeing a much-improved performance at his home ground on Wednesday. (Read more)

Meanwhile, with the run up building towards the South Africa series, here is how Zaheer Khan is gearing up for the crucial away tour that saw his last comeback into the India team:

Patience has paid for Zaheer Khan. Out of the national side for almost a year, the veteran seamer worked on his fitness, played domestic cricket and finally won a national recall when the selectors named the Test squad for the upcoming series against South Africa in December. In a team full of youngsters, Zaheer will be one of the few chips of the 'old' block. On Tuesday in Mumbai, Zaheer said: "I was expecting a comeback. When I asked myself whether I could make a comeback, the answer was yes. Hence prepared a strategy and worked accordingly." He really did.

Ever since playing his last Test match in December 2012 against England in Kolkata, 35-year-old Zaheer battled fitness and weight problems. With younger and fitter players around, there would be no shortcuts and Zaheer was quick to realize this. Playing for India A and then for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy helped Zaheer find his rhythm. "I knew comeback would be a slow process. Didn't want to rush it. I was mentally confident and wanted to physically get there. The Hubli outing (against West Indies A) helped me," said Zaheer. (Read more)