Following a comprehensive win over Australia in game five, hosts of the Ballr Tri-Nations Series, the West Indies, will be aiming to secure the number one spot on the table and possibly increase their chances of reaching the final when they battle the out-of-sorts South Africa today at Warner Park, St Kitts.
When the two sides met in the first match played in Guyana at Providence, Sunil Narine claimed a career-best 6-27 and the West Indies won the match comfortably after Kieron Pollard saw them home with an unbeaten half-century.
As seen in the previous two matches, Warner Park is lightning fast in terms of the outfield while the pitch offered much to the fast bowlers who achieved success in both games.
After their drubbing at the Providence National Stadium at the hands of the Aussies, the hosts got their revenge recently when their batsmen spurred them to an empathic win on Monday in St Kitts.
Like their two opponents, the hosts had their best batting outing since the two matches in Guyana, showing in the game against One Day champions Australia, that their batting line-up when revving on all cylinders is capable of easily chasing 265 runs with wickets and balls to spare.
The West Indies will be keen on beating South Africa again especially after their performance against the Aussies in game five. Openers Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles looked more like themselves on a better batting surface and their aggression at the top of the order helped set the platform for Marlon Samuels’s match-winning knock.
Samuels, who failed in Guyana, showed his class against a good bowling unit, narrowly missing a century after clobbering eight fours and fours sixes in his 84-ball 92 before he was run out.
While left-hander Darren Bravo has not yet made a half-century in the series, his knock of 39 in the last game, coupled with the starts which
he managed in the previous matches, showed that a big innings could be fast approaching.
The main power-hitters/all-rounders in the West Indies side; Kieron Pollard and Carlos Brathwaite have been decent in both departments throughout the competition and against a South African batting order which is now beginning to click, the hosts will want more from their bowlers especially their frontline spinners Narine and Sulieman Benn who went wicket-less in the last match. The South Africans, having lost two of their three games, could likely find themselves out of the competition if they lose today while the conditions in Guyana suited their world-class spin line up, they will need to have good production from their batsmen, especially Quinton de Kock who has not converted any of his starts thus far. While Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien have shown glimpses of form since the opening stages in Guyana, they will want the returning Faf du Plessis and especially captain AB de Villiers to get a good score on a good batting surface.
Whether or not the big-hitting Chris Morris will make his way back in the side at the expense of maybe Wayne Parnell following his recovery from slight injury, it is safe to say that de Villiers might relish the chance of keeping the left-arm pacer Parnell, especially against a predominantly right-handed batting attack.
The South African bowlers, especially the spinners, have been consistent throughout the competition picking up wickets in nearly every game but failing to produce match-winning performances.
While their bowlers were expensive during the first match at Warner Park, much will lie on the shoulders of Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott and Parnell who have wickets under their belts but will desperately need to tap into their form and utilize the pace-friendly conditions to keep the team alive.
If second place West Indies, who enter today’s encounter with nine points win, they are likely to jump into the first place position and face the Aussies in the final which could possibly spell doom for de Villiers and his men who might be on their way out of the competition if they lose today.
