WI vs IND | 1st ODI | The Numbers Game

After being whitewashed in the ODI series against Bangladesh at home, West Indies are set to lock horns with India in the first ODI of the three-match series in Trinidad today. 

READ MORE: IND vs WI | 1st ODI | Who could be India's game changer?

India, coming to the series on the back of their triumphant England tour, will try to maintain their winning run. 

On the other hand, West Indies, who have lost their last six ODIs, will aim to end their disastrous run in the 50-overs format.  

What to expect from the competition?

Average Runs Per Over at the venue: 4.79

Average runs Per Wicket at the venue: 29.50

So, we might see 479 runs being scored for the loss of 16 wickets in today’s match. 

How India and West Indies have fared at the venue? 

India: 

Matches- 21

Won- 11

Lost- 9

NR- 1

India haven’t lost a single ODI at this venue since 2011. 

West Indies: 

Matches- 59

Won- 28

Lost-25

NR-6

West Indies have lost ten consecutive ODIs at this venue since 2010. 

What to expect from the surface? 

Since 2013, seamers have picked 66.67 per cent of the total wickets at this venue, indicating the track's conduciveness for fast bowling. 

However, batters have also enjoyed decent success here, evident from the average run rate of 5.32 in this period. 

What should be the ideal strategy for the toss-winning team?

To find a reasonable answer to this question, we have considered two things, viz. the comparative average performance of the teams and the outcomes of the matches at this venue since 2013. 

(a) Comparative analysis of teams at Queen’s Park Oval since 2013: 

Teams batting first: 

Overs- 50, Average Runs scored- 279, Average Wickets lost- 7

Teams batting second: 

Overs- 50, Average Runs scored- 249, Average wickets lost- 10

(b) Outcomes of matches played since 2013: 

Total matches played-8

Matches won by teams batting first- 5

Matches won by teams batting second- 2

No result- 1

Key Points:

We can clearly see that the average score for teams batting first exceeds that for teams batting second by a considerable margin of thirty runs at this venue since 2013. 

It indicates that the surface of the Queen’s Park Oval gets tougher for batting with the game's progression. 

Conclusion:

Considering all these facts, we conclude that batting will become significantly difficult with time at this venue. Therefore, the toss-winner should ideally opt to bat first in today’s game.