Dwayne Bravo ... looking to clinch ODI series against Zimbabwe - File

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (CMC):

A FLAT pitch and fast outfield will greet the West Indies as they take aim at a series-winning result against Zimbabwe this morning (Ja time) at the Queen's Sports Club for the fourth one-day international (ODI).

The match is a key encounter in the five-match series with the Windies looking to win and take a winning 3-1 lead.

Zimbabwe will be hoping to bounce back from two consecutive defeats and square the series. That would set up a decider on Sunday. The West Indies, however, plan to blank the hosts in today's match and stand-in skipper Dwayne Bravo said the aim was to clinch the series and not let the home team back in. "This is the most important game of the series. If we win that would mean we clinch the series. That was our goal from the time we arrived, to win the series," Bravo said yesterday after a five-hour training session.

"We were looking to win 5-0 but Zimbabwe beat us in the first match, which was high-scoring," he added.

The 24-year-old Bravo will be leading the team again in the absence of Chris Gayle, who is recovering from an injured right hamstring.

Eye-opener

"We don't want to let them back into the series. They could be a dangerous team if you let them get close to you, as we saw in the first match," Bravo noted.

"The first match opened our eyes and we hope to deliver the killer punch tomorrow (Friday) and move on to another big game on Sunday as well."

Bravo said all the players - with the exception of Gayle - were up for selection and noted that the final XI would be named on the morning of the match after the team's hierarchy has a look at the pitch.

Zimbabwe's batting has let them down in the second and third matches and changes could be on the cards for today's contest.

They could also call up tall fast bowler Chris Mpofu to add some pace to the attack on what could be a barren pitch.

A large crowd is expected to assemble at the picturesque ground, which is the heartbeat of Zimabwe's second largest city.

TEAMS:

West Indies (from): Dwayne Bravo (captain), Devon Smith, Brenton Parchment, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Runako Morton, Denesh Ramdin, Rawl Lewis, Darren Sammy, Narsingh Deonarine, Jerome Taylor, Ravi Rampaul, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards.

Zimbabwe (from): Prosper Utseya (captain), Visu Sibanda, Brendan Taylor, Justice Chibhabha, Tatenda Taibu, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Hamilton Masakadza, Keith Dabengwa, Elton Chigumbura, Gary Brent, Raymond Price, Timycen Maruma, Chris Mpofu, Tawanba Mupariwa.