It will effectively be a winner-takes-all showdown between defending champions India and West Indies at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday with a place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals at stake.
With South Africa having already booked their spot in the last four from the Super 8 group, that leaves these two great cricketing nations – who both made light work of the initial group phase – to battle it out for the remaining place.
Co-hosts India kept their title defence alive with with a 72-run victory over Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday, with all-rounder Hardik Pandya making a half-century and picking up player of the match.
West Indies’ winning run in the competition was brought to an end by South Africa in a nine-wicket defeat.
Ahead of the clash on Sunday, India batter Tilak Varma said: “We want to play the fearless cricket, the brand of cricket we played against Zimbabwe and we played since last year.
“The same intent we want to keep in the next game as well. And going ahead in the tournament, we take the same intensity [forward].”
India have won just shy of two-thirds of the 30 men’s T20 international matches between the sides, with West Indies emerging victorious in 10.
Intriguingly, West Indies have won three of the four T20 World Cup meetings, while India have recorded just the one win – back in 2014.
The forecast appears promising, however, should the game be washed out or abandoned due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances, both teams would left tied on points.
If that were the case, qualification for the last four would be decided by Net Run Rate (NRR) – a scenario that scenario would heavily favor West Indies, who currently boast a strong NRR of +1.791, compared to India’s -0.100.
India v West Indies team news
India could be without batter Rinku Singh after his departure following the death of his father mid-way through the tournament.
The middle-order batter had rejoined India before the victory against Zimbabwe, but did not feature in the playing XI in Chennai.
Shivam Dube looks set to continue in the left-hander’s place, but Kuldeep Yadav could come in to add another spin option.
For West Indies, Brandon King is the main concern for after sustaining an injury during the match against South Africa.
The opening batter was hurt diving to attempt a catch and did not feature for he rest of the game.
Shamar Joseph is an option to come in for Gudakesh Motie if West Indies choose to go for a more seam-heavy attack.
India v West Indies predicted teams
India: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
West Indies: Brandon King, Shai Hope(wk/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Jason Holder, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph
Where to watch India v West Indies
India v West Indies starts at 13.30 GMT on Sunday. The T20 World Cup is being shown live in the UK on Sky Sports, with streaming on the Sky Go app.
Via Now TV, Sky Sports costs £14.99 for a day membership, £28 a month for a 12-month membership or £34.99 a month with no contract.
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For coverage elsewhere in the world, click HERE for details of your local rights holder.
India v West Indies prediction
Given what is at stake, it will likely be a tight, but no less enthralling encounter, with defending champions India just about having enough to continue their title defence.
