Published: Jun 15, 2016, 07:51 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 15, 2016, 10:15 PM (IST)
West Indies are set to go against South Africa in the 6th match at St Kitts. This Tri-Nation series has been thrilling as well as spectacular. The hosts are currently at the second spot in the Points Table with two wins out of three matches. On the other hand, South Africa have won just one out of three matches, and this is a do-or-die situation for them. The hosts have an upper hand over South Africa, given they are playing in their home ground. While Guyana’s pitch was tough to score runs, St Kitts is a batting paradise. They will try to feed on South Africa’s weakness, like Australia did in the previous match. Here is the hosts’ likely XI: FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: West Indies vs South Africa at Saint Kitts
Top order: West Indies’ top order showed signs of improvement in their previous match at St Kitts against Australia. The pitch conditions support Caribbean style of batting compared to Guyana bowler-friendly track. Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher shared a 74-run stand, which laid the foundation for the chase. However, the openers have not been able to perform at their best. Darren Bravo, on the other hand, has failed to convert starts into big scores. In the previous contest, he threw his wicket away after playing himself in.
Middle order: Good news for West Indies, as Marlon Samuels came back into form in the previous match, scoring 92 runs and bagging Player of the Match. Dinesh Ramdin, however, has not been impressive at all with only 51 runs in three matches.
Power-hitter Kieron Pollard played hero in the first match with match-winning 67 runs, followed by a duck in the next. In the previous match, he played the finisher’s role, with 27 balls to spare. Skipper Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite have exchanged the seventh position, but it’s highly likely that Brathwaite gets to bat today. He has failed to live up to the reputation of T20 World Cup 2016.
Lower Order: Skipper Jason Holder is the strongest batsman in the lower order. He can hit the ball out of the park quite comfortably. He is followed by Sunil Narine, Suliemann Benn and Jerome Taylor. Narine is the best of the lot for scoring a few runs when the chips are down.
In the bowling department, they have the in-form Narine, who will try to exploit South Africa’s batting woes against spin. He will be backed up by Benn, who maintains a good economy rate and does not let batsmen free their arms. Taylor has come back in the side and has succeeded in taking wickets up the order. Holder, Pollard and Brathwaiite will play the supporting role against the mighty Proteas.
West Indies’ Likely XI: Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite, Jason Holder (c), Jerome Taylor, Sunil Narine, Sulieman Benn
(Arun Rawal, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a daydreamer, movie buff, and cricket fanatic. He could not play cricket, so did the next best thing, writing for it. He loves to play the flick shot over square leg, and believes Sachin Tendulkar is God. His twitter handle is @ArunRawal93)
