Tri-Series 2016, Match 6 Preview: High flying Windies face Protea fire

The West Indies win the previous encounter against Australia set a new tone to the Tri-Series 2016. It showed that it was competitive despite the recent havoc brewing in the WICB at the moment. While the Windies are now flying high on top of the table, the Proteas are languishing at the bottom with just a solitary win from their 3 matches. With South African backs to the wall, a mouthwatering encounter is certainly on the cards.

Pitch Conditions

As enumerated in the previous match between Australia and the West Indies, this isn’t the worst of conditions for batsmen to bat on. However, the terms and conditions are loud and clear when it comes to applying yourself while batting. As noticed earlier, dew does indeed play a factor later on into the night, especially with the winds descending from the mountains on the sides.

Team Analysis

West Indies

Fresh from their win against the Australians, Jason Holder and his band of merry West Indians will be raring to go. Marlon Samuels’ rise to form after a dormant time with the bat couldn’t have come at a better time. The addition of the likes of Carlos Brathwaite and Kieron Pollard adds the much-needed balance to the side.

Although the Windies will be on a high after defeating Australia, it will be up to Jason Holder to get his players back to focus. With the top order of Fletcher, Charles, and Darren Bravo also performing reasonably well at the moment, it is highly unlikely that the Windies will make any changes to the current winning combination they have going at the moment.

Also check out – Zim v Ind, 3rd ODI Preview: Young Indians sniff a clean sweep

South Africa

The South Africans well and truly have their backs to the wall. Having been defeated in two of their three matches, things in the South Africa camp don’t seem to be going too well. Looking forward, the combination of Farhaan Behardien and Wayne Parnell seems to be working well for the Proteas who have lost their previous encounter against Australia.

While the pace battery of South Africa has been working rather well in the Tri-Series 2016 thus far, the South African management may well consider replacing one of the pacers with left-arm chinaman Tabraiz Shamsi. The latter played just the one match as the Proteas coasted to an impressive win over Australia. Should South Africa lose for a second time against the West Indies, they will be requiring a bonus point to make it to the final of the Tri-Series.

Probable XI:

West Indies: Jason Holder (C), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Fletcher, Johnson Charles, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite, Jerome Taylor, Suleiman Benn, Sunil Narine

South Africa: AB de Villiers (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, Farhaan Behardien, Wayne Parnell, Imran Tahir, Aaron Phangiso, Kyle Abbott/Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada

StAttack:

1. Denesh Ramdin needs 25 runs to complete 2000 runs in ODI Cricket.

2. Apart from Hashim Amla, no other South African batsman has crossed the 100 runs aggregate mark in the current Tri-Series 2016.

3. West Indies’ win over Australia was their first win over the Aussies in 8 ODs. They had lost the previous 7 ODIs to Australia.

4. Marlon Samuels’ 92 against Australia was his highest against the Aussies. He had previously made two half-centuries against Australia, both of which came in 2001.