The rather short Test series between South Africa and West Indies concludes in Johannesburg from Wednesday when the two teams complete proceedings in a match which counts towards the World Test Championship even though both teams have been eliminated from final contention.
In essence this is a dead rubber for both teams and with ODIs to come probably being more significant in the long-term you wonder how these two teams will motivate themselves to put a competitive showing on.
South Africa
I think it is fair to say that there was a lot of pressure on South Africa going into this series. They still take Test cricket very seriously and are searching for the best combinations, both in the leadership role and the balance of their team. That is pressure enough but then they are expected to beat a team like West Indies and beat them well so in a lot of ways they could only lose that opening game even if they happened to win.
In the last nine months or so it is the batting where South Africa have struggled. They actually made a good start with the bat in Centurion but once wickets started to fall they fell regularly from the opening partnership in the first innings right through to the end of the second innings so that is something they are going to need to fix. If they can sort that then they certainly have the bowling attack to do some damage in this format of the game.
West Indies
You never truly know what you are going to get in red ball cricket these days. As a neutral you just hope they are good enough to be competitive and then from there anything you get is a bonus. They were competitive in the opening match but could never quite get back on level terms after the opening partnership against them in the first innings. There were enough signs that starting on a level footing and getting first use of conditions could lead to success.
As with the team they are facing, West Indies’ issue in recent times has been with their batting and that was a problem again in Centurion, albeit on a wicket which did more than enough for the bowlers. Much like South Africa, if West Indies can find some runs, especially in the first innings, then there is no reason why they can’t be more than competitive with their bowling attack, especially in these conditions.
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Team News
South Africa have already gone out on a limb and named their side prior to the toss and have made four changes. Anrich Nortje, Keegan Petersen, Marco Jansen and Senuran Muthusamy drop out with Simon Harmer, Keshav Maharaj, Ryan Rickelton and Wiann Mulder all coming in.
West Indies are considering a couple of changes which would see Gudakesh Motie coming in for Shannon Gabriel and there could also be a debut for Alick Athanaze who might come in for Roston Chase.
Betting
Kagiso Rabada wrapped up the previous match with 6-50 to add to the two wickets he took in the opening game and I’m expecting a lot more wickets from the leader of the South Africa attack here. I say that because there is no Anrich Nortje here or Marco Jansen who are the next two best seamers for South Africa and with rain around in the lead up to this game I’m not convinced spin is going to have much of a part to play, in the early part of this match at the very least.
That makes me think the 10/11 on Rabada picking up more than 2.5 first innings wickets is the way to go in this one. He has played six Tests here and has covered this line in the first innings in five of them and got two wickets on the other occasion. He has 30 wickets at The Wanderers and they come at an average of 1.4 runs less than his career average so he bowls well here. Against a West Indies batting unit whose technique isn’t necessarily the best I expect Rabada to expose them again here.
Tips
Back K.Rabada – Over 2.5 first innings wickets for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
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