NORTH SOUND, Antigua, CMC – West Indies will seek to break the stride of South Africa in the second One-day International today at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
West Indies trail 0-1 in the five-match series, following a 66-run defeat under the Duckworth-Lewis Method in the rain-affected first One-day International on Saturday at the same venue.
Any hope of the home team rebounding from a patchy Twenty20 World, and two inept T20 Internationals against the Proteas last week at the same venue disappeared, when the visitors mounted 280 for seven from their rain-reduced 48 overs.
West Indies captain Chris Gayle continues to put a brave face on his side’s performance, but his patience must wear thin soon.
“It’s one of those things that we can’t seem to catch a break with our batting, so we will have to go back to the drawing board,” said Gayle, following Saturday’s meltdown.
“We are not going to give-up. We know that we are not playing good cricket now, but we are going to try and keep our heads up, and try to play some good cricket.”
Unfortunately, it’s hard to see from whom the good cricket will come, with Gayle typically blowing hot and cold, and several others clearly either out of form, or out of their depth.
Sadly, the tightness of the schedule does not allow the selection panel of chairman Clyde Butts, Raphick Jumadeen, and Robert Haynes to make any personnel changes.
Plus, some of the better replacements are either engaged with the A-Team in Bangladesh, or injured, which means the same old faces will try to gain redemption against a well-drilled South African unit.
West Indies can expect no favours from their opponents, since the Proteas too, have their own demons to cast down, following a dismal performance in the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
“We want to play well, and we want to win this series,” said their captain Graeme Smith.
“We want to have a very successful tour of the Caribbean. I have said this a number of times. We have a lot of bouncing back to do, following the T20 World Cup, and we want to do it well.”
In contrast to their opponents, South Africa have introduced a number of new faces, different from the T20 World Cup squad, and they have breathed new life into the visitors.
Hashim Amla, one of them, led the way his second ODI hundred on Saturday, and 20-year-old left-hander David Miller looks a frightening prospect for the future.
West Indies have never won an ODI series against South Africa, and at this rate, the odds look very short that they will change this fact any time soon.
The weather looks likely to follow in a similar pattern to Saturday, with showers forecast in the morning, and becoming less numerous in the afternoon.
The pitch used in the first ODI looked behaved much better than the uneven surface used for the preceding two T20Is, and the South Africans showed there is something in it for the bowlers, if they are prepared to work.
Squads:
WEST INDIES: Chris Gayle (captain), Dwayne Bravo (vice captain), Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor
SOUTH AFRICA: Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Kallis (vice captain), Hashim Amla, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, Abraham de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Charl Langeveldt, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Alviro Pietersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe.
