West Indies laid out their credentials for a successful title defence when the World T20 comes around later in the year when they dispatched South Africa in the opening match of their series on Saturday. On Sunday they will look to take a 2-0 lead in the five-game series.
South Africa were given a bit of a wake up call in that first game and will need to respond positively if they are to avoid moving 2-0 behind with three to play. A win here and they can start feeling good about their chances again.
West Indies
I regularly say that we can’t expect a perfect performance from a side in an opening game of a series these days because of the lack of preparation time that they have in the current international schedule, however the one the West Indies produced to start off with was very good indeed and if there is some natural progression to come from them then they are going to be very hard to stop in this match you would think.
It will be interesting to see if West Indies are as brutal with the bat if they are asked to post a score but when you consider the players who never made it to the crease in that first game, there is clearly a lot more to come from them should they need it. They were nearly perfect with the ball with the exception of a couple of overs in the powerplay and although this is an aging side you never really thought they were hiding many in the field which was a positive.
South Africa
I would imagine South Africa would point out the constant disruption to their batting effort with the rain as to a reason why the innings never really gathered momentum and they would have a point in that but the concerns over their batting in the second half of their effort going into the series certainly were not answered in that opening game. South Africa are crying out for a finisher because David Miller is starting to come off far too infrequently these days.
Where South Africa would have been disappointed is in their bowling effort. In many ways I have some sympathy with them because when this power packed West Indies batting unit fancy the job they are impossible to bowl to but at the same time I’m not sure they stayed in the contest as much as they might have done. They will need much more from that department if they are going to level the series regardless of how their batting goes.
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Team News
It is hard to see West Indies making any changes to the side which won the opening match unless someone hasn’t backed up very well. Whether someone like Andre Russell can do two matches in as many days. If he can’t then Fidel Edwards could come in.
South Africa might decide the time to give Kyle Verreynne a sustained run in the side to see if he can nail down the number six position. Lungi Ngidi went to all parts in the first game so Beuran Hendricks could be given a chance.
Betting
I took the sixes in the opening match of the series and West Indies covered the line on their own when they clobbered 15 sixes. They still had the better part of five overs to spare when they reached their target so there is clearly even more to come from them, and that isn’t allowing for the fact that Nicholas Pooran, Andre Fletcher and Kieron Pollard never got into bat too. South Africa hit five sixes in their innings but that was a stop-start one so there is probably more in them too.
The line for this match has moved up to 16.5 which is perfectly understandable but as I suggested in that first match, this is a small ground and the pitch usually plays well so I’m not convinced the line has gone up enough. This is still a line that if certain players get going West Indies can cover on their own but you’ve got to think South Africa will up the ante in the big hitting department based on what they saw in that first game. I’m happy enough to be on over 16.5 sixes here.
Tips
Back Over 16.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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