South Africa target fresh start against patchy West Indies

Friday, June 3, 2016
Start time 1300 local (1700GMT)

South Africa seem to play series in the Caribbean that few fans will remember. The last time they toured the region was in 2010, during the football World Cup hosted in South Africa. Safe to say their clean sweep of the three formats has been forgotten. This time, they are visiting for a tournament that is seemingly even less relevant: a triangular ODI series scheduled a year before the next major tournament.

With the series comprising day-night games, fans in South Africa are more likely to go to bed and unlikely to watch more than the first 30 overs, but that does not mean there is nothing at stake. For South Africa coach Russell Domingo, almost everything is at stake. Even though the independent review, which was due to scrutinise his performance, has been scrapped, Domingo's position remains precarious and he will have to turn things around quickly to keep his post. He will also have to do that without the team's pace ace.

Officially, Dale Steyn was rested 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 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.

West Indies, on the other hand, are in danger of being shut out of their own party, though it seems to have just gotten started following the double World T20 triumphs. In keeping with West Indies' selection policy of picking only players who were available for their domestic 50-over tournament, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy were left out. Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine are back for the first four matches, but that is scant consolation given their other areas of concern.

The hosts are short on ODI game time, having last played nearly seven months ago, when they lost to Sri Lanka in November. Their two warm-up matches against a Barbados Select XI took place without their captain and several other players who were at the IPL, and they lost both. But pride in the region is at an all-time high and if they are to pull off a coup, South Africa is their first target.

(last five completed games, most recent first)
West Indies LLLLW
South Africa WWWLL

Sunil Narine returns to international cricket after spending six months on the sidelines working on his bowling action. In the recent IPL, he played a supporting role in the Kolkata Knight Riders attack, taking 11 wickets at an average of 27.63. At home, against a South Africa middle order that is notoriously soft facing spin, he has the opportunity to come into his own.

After an underwhelming performance at the World T20, where his batting position was changed at the 11th hour, AB de Villiers stormed back into form at the IPL. He was the third highest run-scorer overall, and racked up six fifties and a century in 16 innings for Royal Challengers Bangalore. De Villiers is leading South Africa into a new era, after their worst season in recent memory, and there will be no better way for him to do it than with the bat.

Pollard and Narine should slot straight into West Indies' XI. Darren Bravo will headline the batting line-up with World T20 hero Carlos Brathwaite, while Jerome Taylor and Jason Holder will shoulder the pace attack.

West Indies (probable) 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Andre Fletcher, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Carlos Brathwaite, 8 Jonathan Carter, 9 Jason Holder (capt), 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Jerome Taylor

Faf du Plessis has been ruled out of this match as he recovers from a broken finger, giving Rilee Rossouw a 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.

South Africa (probable) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Kyle Abbott/Aaron Phangiso, 11 Imran Tahir

South Africa and Australia are expecting the Guyana surface to be slow and low, and to take turn. Run-scoring could be sluggish but things will not be easy on the field, with high heat and humidity that could prove energy-sapping, even at night. There is a strong chance of rain during the day, although the probability drops to below 40% from 5pm.

"They are a very dangerous team in all formats. They've got match-winners from start to end. It's in their home conditions. They know it better than we do. They've got their home support."
Despite their much higher ranking than their hosts, Chris Morris says the odds are stacked against South Africa at the start

"They generally bank on their quicker bowlers, but they also have a few spinners whom we have to look out for."
Jason Holder is not about to overlook South Africa's spin threat