ICC Champions Trophy 2013: South Africa vs West Indies, Match 9th, Group B – WI Preview

With the semifinal slot on the line, the West Indies and South Africa will lock horns in what is a virtual quarterfinal in the last round of Group B fixtures at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on Friday.

South Africa lost their opening match to India before make a stunning comeback against Pakistan, similar to what the West Indies have managed to do so far in the tournament – winning against Pakistan followed by a hammering at the hands of India.

As far as the batting strength goes, West Indies can match South Africa toe-to-toe, but the Chris Gayle factor could well sway the match in the favour of West Indies if the Jamaican comes up with one of his trademark performances on Friday.

On a positive note, the Windies are full of naturally gifted players, each of whom is a match-winner in his own right. Gayle is accompanied by Johnson Charles at the top, who seems to be in excellent nick; and in Keiron Pollard, skipper Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy, they have an army of all-rounders who can bail the team out from hopeless situations, making up a formidable lower middle-order. So, on their day, the men from the Caribbean can be a frightening batting line-up to bowl to.

On the bowling front, the pace of Kemar Roach and the swing of Ravi Rampaul with the new ball can prove to be a potent threat to the SA batsman. And there is always the mystery spin of Sunil Narine that is more than capable of out-foxing even the best of batsmen. But they will expect better performances from their back-up bowlers like Dwayne Bravo, who has failed to replicate his bowling form of the IPL in this tournament.

The fear of being a West Indies fan is, just like Pakistan, they too are very unpredictable team. No one, including themselves, knows how they will turn up for the game. After getting off to a good start with the bat against India, they couldn’t carry on the good work and lost wickets in at regular intervals, which ultimately sealed their fate in that match.

At one stage, they were on their way to score a challenging total of around 300 if not more; but the typical collapse saw them post a mediocre target of 234. This issues at hand need to be quickly addressed by Ottis Gibson and team, because if they repeat such a dismal batting display, they might as well kiss their chances of progressing to the semi-final goodbye!

Pitch and Conditions:

On to the conditions first. Rain fell consistently throughout the last two days and more showers are forecast for matchday as well. Should the game take place, the moisture will play a key role for the pacers.

Should the weather have the last laugh, South Africa will progress by virtue of a better net run-rate, but that will end the tournament on a sour note for West Indies, although they have the two poor batting displays to blame for their current position in the group.

The ground has been a bit of mystery to decode for batsman, with a run-fest between India and South Africa being followed by a low-scoring encounter between Sri Lanka and New Zealand; but both took place before the rains lashed out in Cardiff. So expect seamer-friendly conditions.

Player to watch out:

Kemar Roach- Kemar Roach is by far the best West Indian fast bowler from the current crop. With fiery pace, he blew away Pakistan, taking 3 for 28 in 10 overs which shredded the Pakistan top-order to pieces as they managed a modest score of 170 runs. Kemar Roach hold the key for this match for Windies given the conditions. He is the only bowler who can trouble the world-class batsman like Amla and De Villiers.

Playing XI (possible): Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles (wk), Darren Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo (c), Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach.

Prediction: If the weather does not improve, it will considerably favour the South Africans and West Indies will be knocked out of the tournament to the surprise of many. Expect the Proteas to dominate the match and seal the semi-final berth.