CANBERRA (Reuters) - West Indies captain Jason Holder was forced to make two changes to his team but won the toss and elected to bat first in the World Cup Pool B match against Zimbabwe at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Tuesday.
Both teams lost their opening match of the tournament but won their second and whoever wins the 45th one-day international between the two will move to second spot in the pool behind India.
"We're going to bat first, it seems to be a pretty good wicket," Holder said. "We've played here before and done well when we've batted so hopefully we'll put some runs on the board.
"Our top four batters have started to set it up but not carried on so we're stressing to them to just carry it on."
As expected, Darren Bravo misses the match because of a low-grade hamstring tear he sustained during the emphatic victory over Pakistan in Christchurch on Saturday that revived West Indies' campaign after the opening defeat to Ireland.
Jonathan Carter comes into the top order and will be looking for a strong performance to ensure he remains in the side for Friday's encounter with South Africa, which Bravo is also likely to miss.
Tall spinner Sulieman Benn was also ruled out with a recurring back problem and Nikita Miller get his chance to show off his left-arm orthodox spin.
Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura said he too would have batted had he won the toss and he was also forced to make one change to his side.
All rounder Solomon Mire has been ruled out so Stuart Matsikenyeri gets to play his first one-day international in more than three years.
Zimbabwe had been hoping to bring Chamu Chibhabha back into the team after he missed the four-wicket victory over United Arab Emirates last Thursday in Nelson with a knee injury.
The opener, who scored a half century against South Africa in the opening defeat, was unable to prove his fitness and Regis Chakabva retains his place at the top of the order.
Teams:
West Indies - Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Jonathan Carter, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin, Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (captain), Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller.
Zimbabwe - Regis Chakabva, Sikandar Raza, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine, Elton Chigumbura (captain), Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Tendai Chatara, Tinashe Panyangara, Stuart Matsikenyeri.
