The second half of Friday’s double header in the Cricket T20 World Cup looked a juicy match before a ball was bowled in the tournament but given the circumstances of Group 1 it has massive implications on the remainder of the competition.
South Africa’s defeat to England has left them realistically needing two wins from their final two matches, against the last two winners of this tournament, to make it into the semi-finals. A defeat to either opens the door for England to steam through which isn’t an ideal position for the Proteas to be in.
West Indies have no such issues. A win here or in their last match against Afghanistan and they will be into the semi-finals as they bid to become the first nation to win this tournament for a second time. The Caribbean men have picked up two very comfortable wins so far and look the team to beat in this group.
You would think South Africa would need to find room for a second spinner in this match especially as JP Duminy has been ruled out of the game through injury. Aaron Phangiso is ready and waiting but it will need a major reshuffling of the pack to get him in. Rilee Rossouw is most likely to replace Duminy.
Chris Gayle failed to bat against Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury. He wasn’t needed in that match but the injury flare up has cleared anyway and he is available for the West Indies in this one. With that in mind it would be a surprise if Darren Sammy’s side make any changes for this game.
We’re back in Nagpur for the first time since the opening match of the Super 10s stage for this one. At the beginning of the tournament this track was turning square, so much so that India fell to pieces in the previous match here against New Zealand when they just couldn’t play spin.
The curator has left a bit of extra grass on the deck for this match and the square has had 10 days since its last match so it should have recovered but I still expect it to play tough for the batsmen even allowing for the fact that it might not turn quite so sharply as it did in that India vs New Zealand game.
Even so I don’t like South Africa here. We saw when they were in India for a Test series recently that they are all at sea against a turning ball and Samuel Badree and Sulieman Benn will get the ball to grip on this surface and then there’s the likes of Chris Gayle who can turn it as well.
West Indies have no massive problem against spin. Their wickets back home are full of turn these days and even so they are so powerful with a bat in their hand that they can just belt the ball out of the park whether they pick the spin or not.
The Windies have shown the better form of the two sides in this tournament so far and for the first time South Africa go on a tough wicket. With the pressure on them given the need to win there are enough reasons to oppose the Proteas. I’m with the West Indies in this one.
WON – Back West Indies to beat South Africa for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with BetVictor
