West Indies and South Africa looking for winning start
Tri-Nation Series: WI/AUS/SA
BY ROMARIO SAMAROO
West Indies and South Africa teams capitalized on the sunny conditions in Georgetown to fine tune preparations for their important opening match in the Tri-Nation Series today at the Guyana National Stadium.
West Indies Captain, Jason Holder and Head Coach Phil Simmons were seen strategizing after the team’s practice session at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence
Torrential rain washed out all possibility of practice on Wednesday forcing all three teams to stay indoors. Following practice on Thursday at the international cricket venue along the East Bank of Demerara West Indies captain, Jason Holder spoke highly of his team’s chances.
Holder is confident that his team will do well in the series having been boosted with a number of players who were part of the winning World T20 Tournament and carrying good form from the recent Indian Premier League.
“We have a lot of players who were part of the T20 team winning the world cup and some of coming in from good form in the IPL Carlos Braithwaite, Marlon Samuels is ready to go, Sunil is back in the squad and so is Pollard” Holder said
“The mood in the camp is good and the guys are ready to go barring the practice game where we were rusty and we didn’t have a full squad” Holder went on to say.
The West Indies captain expressed his confidence with his squad and plans in preparation of the upcoming games focusing on the experience and lethal nature of the bowling attack.
Holder is aware of the batting strength of South Africa but is also paying special attention to the bowling power mentioning Trabaz Shamsi who has played in the Caribbean Premier League with some amount of success for the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
The Proteas captain, AB De Villiers also spoke to the media after an intense training session. The explosive right handed batsman stressed the importance of maturity, experience and good all round skills to put up a good performance in the 10-match series.
While the team may not have had the best training sessions, they will be looking to overcome those obstacles to arrive and make South Africa proud.
Both captains brushed off remarks of the amount of T20 cricket affecting the 50 over game saying they would transfer the skills of T20 into the longer format.
South Africa have rested Dale Steyn for this series in preparation for the Test season but he is instead playing T20 cricket for Glamorgan. Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott will have to carry the attack, and there will also be an opportunity for the spinners to play more starring roles. South Africa’s batting line-up is settled and, with AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock to call on, they will be expected to make the final.
Faf du Plessis has been ruled out of this match as he recovers from a broken finger, giving Rilee Rossouw the chance to show what he can do. Farhaan Behardien will likely keep the No. 6 spot and Chris Morris could edge out Wayne Parnell for the allrounder’s role. With Morne Morkel back, South Africa may have to choose between an extra seamer in Kyle Abbott or a second spinner in Aaron Phangiso to complete their attack.
The West Indian team is not short of stars with the likes of skipper Holder, the experienced Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine who are both returning to the team after a period of absence. While the likes of Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo who were all part of the winning World T20 team are notably missing.
The surface at the Guyana National Stadium is traditionally slow and low, and takes turn. Run-scoring could be sluggish as was the case previously with only one score of more than 300 recorded at the venue which was first used in the 2007 World Cup. Sri Lanka’s 303/9 (50) made against the West Indies in 2007 remains the highest team score while West Indies’ 98 against Pakistan in 2013 is the lowest.
The forecast for today is not so good as there is a high possibility of rain with a high heat and humidity that could prove energy-sapping, even at night.
This is the first time all matches in an ODI series in the West Indies will be played under lights while the only other time West Indies and South Africa competed against each other in a triangular series was in 1993, when South Africa hosted West Indies and Pakistan. West Indies won that series.
West Indies final 11 will come from Jason Holder (captain), Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Carlos Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Sunil Narine, Jerome Taylor, Ashley Nurse, Sulieman Benn and Shannon Gabriel
The South Africa Squad reads: AB De Villiers (Captain), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw and Tabraiz Shamsi.
