West Indies and South Africa conclude their Test series over the weekend when they face each other in the second and final Test match. Just the like the opening match last week, this game comes from St Lucia too.
South Africa know they can’t lose the series and if they avoid defeat here they will win it. West Indies know that if they are to get anything out of a series in which they would have fancied their chances at the outset, they must pull off a victory here.
West Indies
West Indies went into that first game offering up a confident outlook but in truth their race was run before they reached lunch on the opening day when they were reduced to 48-4 and when they were bowled out for 97 in the second session of that day the game was always up from there. To be fair to them they battled with the ball as they often do but even the bowlers couldn’t restore that damage. West Indies offered slightly more with the bat in their second innings but it still wasn’t good enough.
Clearly there needs to be a huge improvement for West Indies in this match but if there is a positive from that defeat it is that they don’t need to search hard to see what went wrong. If they can offer up a couple of better efforts with the bat then they know from the first game that they have the bowling to be competitive. They just can’t let themselves get into a position whereby they are out of the match before it has really got going again.
South Africa
The South Africa captain Dean Elgar will have been delighted with how his first Test in charge went but he’ll also know that there is no room to rest on one good performance. He’ll be striving for his side to produce something even better in this match to secure their first away series win in some four years. There was a time when victories overseas was automatic work for the Proteas but that isn’t the case these days so a win here would be a significant milestone.
South Africa have the bowling artillery to win anywhere so their biggest task in this match is to make sure they bat well. To be fair Quinton de Kock saved them a little bit in that opening game so they will be eager for the rest of the batting unit to come to the party. If they do that then it is hard to see a situation that South Africa don’t go very close to winning, but if they want to win the series they are probably going to have to win the match as a draw is unlikely.
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Team News
West Indies will be forced into a change after Nkrumah Bonner has been ruled out with the concussion he picked up in the last match. Kieran Powell was the concussion substitute on that occasion but Darren Bravo is in the squad for this game so he could come in.
South Africa could have Temba Bavuma back for this match after injury ruled him out of the opening game. He would come in for Kyle Verreynne if he is fit. Is he isn’t we should expect South Africa to be unchanged.
Betting
I took the Anrich Nortje performance in the opening match of the series and I’ll take it again here given that he covered it so comfortably in that first game. Nortje took seven wickets in that first Test match and he also offered up a few runs and there is probably more to come from him with the willow in hand. He is a devastating bowler in these conditions though so most importantly I don’t see there being a lessening in his bowling points.
The performance line has gone up to 106.5 for this match but that still doesn’t feel high enough to me because with five wickets we would only need seven runs or a catch from him to see this line covered. I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if he covers this with the ball as in essence it is only three wickets in each innings that he would need. However he covers it though the important thing is I do think he covers again.
Tips
Back A.Nortje’s Performance – Over 106.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Bet365
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