After winning the Test series in a dominating fashion, South Africa would be forgiven if they thought the five-match T20I series will be of similar nature. But the West Indian team gave a timely reminder of how different of a proposition they are in the shorter formats of the game.
The Caribbean batsman made very light work of the Proteas innings. Chasing down the target with 30 balls to spare. Opener Evin Lewis blasted his way to a 35 ball 71, smashing 4 boundaries and 7 maximums wreaking havoc in the proteas camp. The rest of the batsman joined the fun smashing a total of 15 maximums in the West Indies innings.
Earlier in the innings, Van der Dussen played a calculative 38 ball 56 as the rest of the Proteas batsman struggled to play a significant inning as South Africa posted 160/6 on the board. With the T20 World Cup just around the corner, West Indies once again look like a formidable team to lift the trophy, as there is still some work to be done for the Proteas side.
Will the raw power of the Caribbean players once again prove too much for the South Africans? Or will the Proteas prove the previous match to be a minor blip?
Match Toss Time: 13:30 Local (23:00 IST)
Match Start Time: 14:00 Local (23:30 IST)
Match Venue: National Cricket Stadium, St George’s, Grenada
Head to Head
Matches Played: 11, WI: 5, SA: 6
Weather Conditions
Conditions for cricket don't look ideal as scattered showers are expected with the dark clouds hovering about. Although the temperature is expected to touch the 31°C mark with winds of 35km/h blowing across the ground. Precipitation around the area stands at 40%, while Humidity also rings at 76%.
But considering the short nature of the format, everyone expects the game to proceed.
Pitch
Given the nature of the teams, a relatively high-scoring game is on the cards with the pacers expected to get some purchase off the surface. As the match progresses the spinners should come into play with the pitch slowing down. With an even contest between bat and ball expected wickets in hand will be key.
The team winning the toss would prefer to chase in this ground given the high win percentage of the teams chasing.
Team News
With the test series being an absolute disaster, the West Indies management would be looking to make an absolute statement in the T20 series. Starting the first match of the series on a dominating note, much of the same will be expected as they look to roll out the same set of players to take the field against the Proteas.
The South African management will be concerned with the lack of impact from the Proteas bowlers against the West Indies batsman, not being able to make an impact throughout the game. With this being a long series, the management has enough room for trial and error to test out different combinations before the T20 world cup.
Probable Playing XI
West Indies (WI): Andre Fletcher, Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (C), Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Fabian Allen, Jason Holder, Obed McCoy, Kevin Sinclair
South Africa (SA): Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma (C), Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi
Must-Picks
Evin Lewis has started off this series with an absolutely devastating knock, looking to make a great impact in the shortest format of the game. Rassie van der Dussen stood out for the Proteas with a fighting half-century helping the Proteas post a decent total. Andre Russell and Quinton de Kock are our other must-picks.
WI v SA Fantasy team
Captain and Vice-Captain Picks
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