``I am hoping that the wicket produces a result because I want the West Indies to bounce back and pull a consolation win. We haven't won a game so far on this tour and we badly need to win here,'' West Indies captain Courtney Walsh told reporters at the National Stadium here on Wednesday. The West Indies have lost both the Tests, by an innings margin and if they lose here also, it will be their first white-wash in 69 years. ``We have to play England in three months time and we need this win to straighten things. In this, we will have to forget the earlier defeats and put everything together in this Test match,'' Walsh, 35, said. Walsh said the National Stadium pitch was not very different from the ones on which he played in 1987-88 and then in 1990-91. ``It almost gives an identical look but we have to wait till Thursday evening before we decide which combination to play with.''
The pitch is brownish with very little grass but not on those spots which would help pacemen. It is the same track which was used on Sept 30 for the Pakistan-India one-dayer. Pakistan scored 280 in 48 overs but India won the match in the last over by three wickets. ``It looks dry at the moment but we have to wait till tomorrow afternoon and see what further changes occur,'' Walsh said.
Walsh said he was aware of the fact that the West Indies have not been clean- sweeped since 1928. ``We know and that's why we want to win here to make sure that this doesn't happen.''
Malcolm Marshall, the West Indies coach, said he was as disappointed as any other coach would be to see his team go down 2-1 in a three match series. ``No coach wants to lose but we haven't played well on this tour. We have lost the series but one match is still to be played and we will play to the best of our ability,'' Marshall said.
The former fast bowler was of the view that there was no major difference in the potentials of the two sides except that Pakistan have batted well in the series so far while the West Indies have struggled. ``Pakistan have, however, definitely bowled better as a combined unit,'' he added. Marshall believed that the dropped catches separated the two sides. ``We dropped crucial catches in Peshawar (of Inzamam) and Rawalpindi (of Aamir Sohail). Both the batsmen capitalised on the missed chances to help Pakistan put a sizable score on the board.''
Marshall said the morale of the team was down but their pride was to play for the West Indies. ``The other major factor is that we have to play against England in the Caribbean in three months time. A number of players will play in this Test to save their places for the opening Test against England.'' The West Indies coach refused to comment when asked if the itinerary suited his team. But skipper Courtney Walsh, when asked the similar question, replied: ``When we came here, we knew that what we had. So no complains.''
The West Indies played a warm-up one-day game in Lahore before they playing in the golden jubilee quadrangular tournament in which they lost all their three league matches. They then played a four-dayer at Rawalpindi before the Peshawar Test. West Indies' second and last first-class match before the final two Tests couldn't be held when they refused to avail of the lodging and boarding facilities in a Civil Aviation rest house in Hyderabad.