West Indies vs. Pakistan 4th ODI: Five players to watch out for

Pakistan bowler Shahid Afridi (C) celebrates with teammates as West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo (2nd L) LBW for 0 during the 1st ODI at Guyana National Stadium on July 14, 2013. (Getty Images)

West Indies and Pakistan have been neck-to-neck in this series so far with a win each and hard-fought tie at St. Lucia in the third ODI. All three matches have been low-scoring affairs with the bowlers dominating the contest. The tie in the last match means that one team will have to go a gear-up in order to win both matches and the series.

West Indies have made some corrections with the bat as Lendl Simmons and Marlon Samuels got some valuable runs under the belt but the inconsistency of the top-order remains a concern. They have not been up to the mark in the field either and 15-20 runs can make a lot of difference in low-scoring matches.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have allowed an excellent opportunity to slip away after they won the first tie convincingly and were leading the race in the third match before a lower order resurgence from the West Indies evoked a panic reaction.

The batting department is still suspect as Ahmed Shehzad’s drought of runs at the head of the innings continues. The alternative of promoting Md. Hafeez to open with Nasir Jamshed is not too tempting either given that he has not scored a half-century in his last six innings for Pakistan. The bowling department has picked up wickets up-front but the West Indian batsmen have managed to keep negate their threat in the middle overs.

Here is a list of five players who will influence the result of the fourth ODI to be played at St. Lucia: