Final chance for WI today

Final chance for WI today


Vinode Mamchan
Published: Guardian
Friday, June 24, 2016

West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels cuts during Match 5 of the Ballr Cup Tri-Nation Series between West Indies and Australia at Warner Park, Basseterre on Monday. West Indies will be looking for a big innings from Samuels today. Photo courtesy WICB Media
The West Indies gave up an opportunity to land a place in the Ballr Tri-series finals against Australia on Tuesday night and will return to the most sacred of Caribbean grounds, Kensington Oval in Barbados today at 1 pm, to see if they can enter at the expense of South Africa.

West Indies go into the clash in third place on eight points, while South Africa has 12 points. If the West Indies win today, even without a bonus point, they would also reach 12 points and would advance to the finals by virtue of more wins.

The home team can expect a good crowd this evening, being a Friday and also given the enormity of the clash. West Indies will be looking to turn around their fortunes, having won just one of their last four matches in the tournament.

There is a question mark over the availability of skipper Jason Holder who hobbled away after just two overs against Australia with a hamstring injury. He trained yesterday and told the media he was coming along.

He said: “We have been working on the injury and it is coming along. We still have time before the match so a decision will be made tomorrow.”

Should Holder miss the game it is likely that Keiron Pollard will fill the breach, as he did when Holder walked off in the last game. Holder thinks his team has it within them to win the contest.

“We have shown already that we have the quality to beat these teams and the guys know that two wins and we will win the trophy,” he said.

“They have been working very hard during this tournament and although not all the results have come our way, the guys have done enough to show that they can go all the way.”

If Holder fails to pass his fitness test this morning, Barbadian pacer Miguel Cummins would come into the squad to partner Shannon Gabriel with the new ball. Cummins has been practicing with the West Indies team since their arrival.

South Africa, ranked number three in ODIs by the International Cricket Council, hammered the WI in their last meeting in St Kitts and skipper AB de Villiers understands the task before him. “We’ve played quite a few really close series in the past, like this one, where we’ve had a few must-win games. We enjoy those kind of situations. We like to bring the fight when it matters most. It’s a great opportunity for us to prove that we are that kind of team under pressure.”

More info
Teams:
West Indies : Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin, Kieron Pollard, Jason Holder, Jonathan Carter, Carlos Brathwaite, Sulieman Benn, Sunil Narine, Shannon Gabriel.
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis,  AB de Villiers (capt), JP Duminy, Farhaan Behardien, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.

STANDINGS
Team    P    W    L    NR    T    PTS    NRR
Australia    6    3    2    1    0    15    +0.383
South Africa    5    2    2    1    0    12    +0.697
West Indies    5    2    3    0    0    8    -0.988

www.guardian.co.tt/sport/2016-06-24/final-chance-wi-today