New Delhi:
India are in danger of ending 2019 on a sour note. After losing the Chennai ODI by eight wickets in their defence of 287, Virat Kohli's Indian cricket team are playing the Vizag ODI with everything on the line. The loss in Chennai was their fourth consecutive defeat in an ODI at home in 2019. The sequence goes back to the series against Australia in March which was played just before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. After winning the Hyderabad and Nagpur ODIs, Australia staged a remarkable comeback as they won in Ranchi, Mohali and Delhi.
The 3-2 series win for Australia was the first series win in India after 10 years. Heading into the Chennai ODI, Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope slammed centuries as West Indies chased down 287 with absolute ease to win by eight wickets and with 13 balls to spare. This was the first time since 2005 that India had lost four consecutive series in an ODI at home. During the Pakistan series in 2005, India won the first two games in Kochi and Vizag but Pakistan produced a remarkable performance. They won the Jamshedpur ODI by 106 runs, won the Ahmedabad ODI in a thriller off the last ball and pulled off convincing wins in Kanpur and Delhi.
If India lose the Vizag match today against the West Indies, then they will not only lose a series against the Windies for the first time in 13 years but they will also achieve a 31-year low when it comes to ODIs at home.
A loss in Vizag would their fifth consecutive loss in a home ODI and India has not faced this since 1983. In the series played in October-November in India, the hosts were whitewashed 5-0. In the first game in Srinagar, India were beaten by 28 runs and the second ODI was won by the Windies by four wickets in Vadodara. West Indies won the Indore ODI and the Jamshedpur game by eight wickets and 104 runs while the whitewash was complete when West Indies won by six wickets in Guwahati.
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The previous encounter between India and the West Indies in Vizag featured an epic match in which Shai Hope hit a century and Shimron Hetmyer slammed 94 after Virat Kohli blasted a century. However, the match ended in a tie. India will be hoping to change their fortunes in the 'City of Destiny' as they aim to come back on level terms.
