Austalia skipper Michael Clarke has won the toss and elected to bat in the third one-day international against the West Indies as the hosts looked to seal the series with victory in front of a sell-out crowd at Manuka Oval.
It was unsurprising that Clarke chose to bat first on the wicket that produced over 640 runs in the Prime Minsters XI fixture a week ago with conditions ideal for batting, a clear blue sky with only a sprinkling of cloud. Early indications pointed to this being a very good toss to win.
Australia made only one change from the team that won the second ODI in Perth on Sunday meaning George Bailey would have the chance to add to his batting heroics at the WACA with Shane Watson coming in to open the batting in place of Usman Khawaja, partnering Aaron Finch at the top of the order.
The West Indies meanwhile included big-hitting Andre Russell in their line up in place of Jason Holder who dropped to 12th man. Russell has happy memories of the Manuka wicket having blasted 54 off only 24 balls in the match here seven days ago and, alongside Chris Gayle, Kieran Powell and Kieron Pollard, held the key to the West Indies hopes of keeping the series alive.
Initially it would be down to the bowlers to made early inroads into a confident Australian batting line-up and with the pitch not offering much to the bowler in the opening tour match here, the scene is set for the Australians to set a daunting target for the tourists.
First Posted 06 February, 2013 2:43PM AEST
