Afghanistan will take on West Indies in the third and final One-Day International at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Monday (November 11). Having won the first two ODIs, West Indies have already sealed the series and will now look to complete a series whitewash.

The two sides have played each other eight times in ODIs. While West Indies have won four of them, Afghanistan have come on top thrice. Meanwhile, one match yielded a no-result.

Ground details 

The Ekana Stadium has only hosted two ODIs so far and going by these last two games between Afghanistan and West Indies, the surface had something for the pacers early on and later on, the spinners too came into play. West Indies managed to chase down the 195-run target in the first ODI and then defended 247 in the second. Afghanistan have now lost 11 ODIs in a trot and going by form, it will be better to go with as many West Indies players as possible.

Captaincy suggestion

All-rounder Roston Chase has been superb for West Indies in this series. The offspinner has scalped five wickets so far apart from scoring a match-winning 94 in the first ODI. The 27-year-old is someone who can chip in both departments and can prove to be a valuable pick. The wear and tear of the surface might assist the spinners a bit more and Chase will be looking forward to contributing with both bat and ball once again.

X-Factors  

Shai Hope has been in magnificent form in 2019. He has contributed in both the encounters so far. On Saturday, Hope joined an elite list of West Indies batsmen as he achieved a unique milestone after his crucial 43-run-knock in the second ODI. The right-hander became only the fifth West Indies batsman after Desmond Haynes (1985, 1989), Viv Richards (1985), Brian Lara (1993) and Chris Gayle (2002, 2006) to notch up 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year. Only Virat Kohli (1288), Rohit Sharma (1232), Aaron Finch (1141), Babar Azam (1092) and Usman Khawaja (1085) have scored more runs than Hope (1014) this year.

Rahmat Shah loves playing against the West Indies having scored four fifties from seven innings against them. He managed 61 in the first match and then scored 33 in the second ODI before being run out. The leading run-scorer for his country this year – 636 runs at 33.47 – is the glue that holds the innings together and will have to play a huge role if Afghanistan are to level the series. He has gotten off to starts in his previous six innings – 36, 24, 35, 62, 61 and 33 – but will have to kick on if Afghanistan are to get a big total on the board.  

Following his success in the CPL 2019, Hayden Walsh has made a smooth transition to international cricket. While Rashid Khan has struggled to take wickets in this series, Walsh already has four to his name. The legspinner, who was the leading wicket-taker in this year’s CPL, took three wickets in the last encounter and will look to carry forward his form on Monday.  

Weather

The weather in Lucknow is expected to be nice and sunny and we will get a full game.

Suggested FanFight team

Shai Hope (WK), Evin Lewis, Rahmat Shah, Roston Chase (Capt), Shimron Hetmyer, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Hayden Walsh, Sheldon Cottrell.