West Indies head into the match in Nelson, New Zealand, with a shaken-up squad that has failed to gel since an acrimonious dispute over player contracts.
Virtually out of the play-off race and struggling on multiple fronts, a horribly out-of-sorts Mumbai Indians will need a special team effort to arrest their slide when they take on Lucknow Super Giants in a return-leg IPL fixture in Mumbai on Sunday.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the 1st Test played between South Africa and West Indies at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday.
Rajasthan Royals are better placed than Punjab Kings on the net run rate but both will have to rely on other results to advance.
West Indies beat England by four wickets on the final day of the first international Test since the coronavirus break on Sunday, taking a 1-0 lead at the Ageas Bowl in a three-Test series thanks to a 95-run knock by Jermaine Blackwood.
Dejected by the shambolic state of the West Indies cricket team, legendary pacer Sir Andy Roberts feels the side is not even competing anymore and players cannot escape the blame by continuously citing their dispute with the country's Board.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
The pitch at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium was nothing like we've witnessed at other venues this season of the IPL. It was a two-paced pitch and batting wasn't the easiest.
Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein and fast bowler Jason Holder have achieved career-best rankings in bowling after helping the West Indies to a series-deciding 17-run victory in the fifth match against England in Bridgetown.
The West Indies cricket team on Monday departed from Antigua for their scheduled three-test tour of England as international cricket is finally set to resume. Two planes collected players from various islands in the West Indies earlier on Monday before they all took a private charter flight for the UK, which will reach Manchester on Tuesday.
The returning Shikhar Dhawan will add more firepower to a ruthless India, who are faced with the problem of plenty, as they eye a clean sweep of West Indies in an inconsequential third and final ODI in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Kemar Roach and captain Jason Holder took four wickets each as West Indies thumped England by 10 wickets in the second Test in Antigua to gain an unbeatable 2-0 series lead.
Archer, who has played his junior cricket in the Caribbean and qualified to play for England only in April, is a familiar figure for the West Indies camp and it knows what the 24-year-old is capable of.
Opening partner Usman Khawaja (62) completed 1000 runs for the calendar year and was looking in great touch before West Indies struck back with two quick wickets after the lunch break.
Chasing 177 for victory, India romped home with 22 overs to spare despite losing four wickets in quick succession following a fluent start.
Australia's David Warner smashed an incendiary half-century and Mitchell Starc claimed 4-20 to help the hosts beat West Indies by 31 runs in the second Twenty20 International and complete a 2-0 series sweep in Brisbane on Friday.
West Indies have failed to understand English conditions and paid the price for their one-dimensional tactics of trying to bounce out opposition
Kane Williamson is still holding the pole position among Test batsmen while Pat Cummins (908) has a significant (48 points) lead at the top among bowlers over India's Ravichandran Ashwin (850).
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Images from Day 1 of the second Test between India and West Indies at Queen's Park Oval, in Port of Spain, on Thursday.
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Swansea City scored the day's biggest upset when they knocked holders Portsmouth out of the FA Cup with a deserved 2-0 fourth-round win at Fratton Park on Saturday.
KXIP got its campaign back on track with three consecutive wins -- over mighty Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore and the KL Rahul-led side would be hoping to carry the winning momentum forward to break into top four.
Younis, who became the first Pakistan player to complete 10,000 Test runs, made 58 while Azam stroked 72 in dominating a 131-run third-wicket partnership which gave the tourists an upper hand into the final session of the day.
With 11,406 runs in 238 innings Virat Kohli is the second highest run-getter for India in ODI
Home captain Kraigg Brathwaite, 17 not out overnight, lost his wicket in the second over after tea as he cut Nauman Ali straight to point to be dismissed for 39.
India thumped West Indies by 10 wickets inside three days to complete a 2-0 series sweep on Sunday after Umesh Yadav's stellar bowling effort set up their comprehensive victory in the and second and final Test.
Carse joins an England team struggling at the ninth place on the table after just one win in four matches.
With Jason Holder's men just about managing to draw the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan 1-1, there is no doubt that the current Indian team are a few notches ahead in terms of quality.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo wrote his own piece of history, while Praveen Tambe became the first Indian cricketer to play in the Hero Caribbean Premier League as Trinbago Knight Riders posted their fourth straight win, beating St Lucia Zouks by six wickets via D/L method in a rain-truncated match, in Port of Spain on Wednesday.
The Test batting chart is headed by Australia's Marnus Labuschagne (915 points), followed by England captain Joe Root (900) while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (879) dislodged Steve Smith (877) from the No. 3 slot.
Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya has become the first player to take a knee in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
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An old-fashioned green-top pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound was certainly a mitigating factor in England's performance, especially early on when West Indies' four-pronged pace attack exploited the favourable conditions.
Jason Holder backed underfire opener Shai Hope and insisted the team were in good shape ahead of Friday' start of the decisive Test at Old Trafford.
Kohli, who made 0 and 62 in Chennai, stayed in fifth spot among batsmen with 838 points. Kane Williamson (919) of New Zealand retained the top position with Steve Smith (891) of Australia in second spot.
Jasprit Bumrah jumped six spots to fourth but struggling star batter Virat Kohli slipped to ninth
Chase's extraordinary figures -- better than Shane Warne's Test best of eight for 71 -- were achieved even though he did not exact prodigious turn. He got just enough, however, to keep the batsmen on edge.
Faf du Plessis showed why he continues to be among the top-rated batters in T20 cricket at the D Y Patil stadium on Tuesday night.
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