The T20 series between West Indies and South Africa continues on Sunday when the two sides head back to the Brian Lara Academy in Trinidad to play the second match of the scheduled three with the home side looking to take the spoils.
West Indies have two cracks at winning the series courtesy of taking the opening match on Friday and they will be wanting to get it done here. If South Africa are going to take it to a decider then they have to win this match.
West Indies
I think there will be plenty of things which West Indies would have been happy with in their performance in that opening game of the series but at the same time there will be things they will want to do better. You would expect that though given that they have rested some players to give a chance to others but the big positive was that they won the match and had so much more in hand should they have needed it.
From where they had South Africa at the halfway mark in their innings, West Indies will have been disappointed to end up having to chase more than 170 in the opening game. At the beginning of that run chase, given that this ground is known for being relatively low scoring, it looked a bit of a daunting task, however the openers soon broke the back of the run chase and allowed Nicholas Pooran to come in and put a tidy gloss on proceedings.
South Africa
I guess you could say similar about South Africa. They would have been happy with some elements of their play in that opening game of the series but there would have been plenty more that they would not have been so content with. They were probably always going to come on for the run with a number of their players arriving fairly late for the series but they would still have expected to be more competitive than they were in that first game.
South Africa will be pleased with how their middle order got them out of something of a hole in the second half of their batting innings but they will be looking for a much better showing from their top order, particularly when you consider that the pitches here are likely to tire given that all three matches are being played on this ground. Where there is definitely room for improvement is with the ball. They started slowly and got progressively worse and that needs to change if they are to get back into the series.
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Team News
West Indies have a few players in their squad who will be looking for game time before the Caribbean Premier League gets underway and they include Obed McCoy and Fabian Allen but it might be that the home side wait until the series is won before they make changes.
South Africa surely won’t go in with the same bowling attack that they had for that opening match so we can expected changes there. Lizaad Williams could be an option but they could also play Wiaan Mulder and extend their batting at the same time.
Betting
I see no reason to change tactics after the opening game really. You would expect South Africa to come on for the run but the bowling options they have if they want to change things aren’t really going to worry too many and I just expect West Indies to go on the rampage with the bat. The boundaries were in here in the opening game and I don’t know if that will be the case here but if it is then the eyes of the home batters could well light up.
The sixes line for the home side has nudged up one from 8.5 to 9.5 but I don’t think it has gone high enough. West Indies were chasing a fair score in the first game but they still hit 13 sixes and had the likes of Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd to come into bat while Rovman Powell didn’t hit a six. The outfield was a bit sluggish here in the opening game and there has been a bit of rain around in the morning of the match so that is unlikely to change so you would imagine West Indies will continue to look for sixes. I think they cover this line again.
Tips
Back West Indies – Over 9.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Betway
