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South Africa target fresh start against patchy West Indies
- Updated: June 3, 2016
Match facts
Friday, June 3, 2016 Start time 1300 local (1700GMT)
Big Picture
South Africa seem to play series in the Caribbean that few fans will remember. The last time they toured the region was in 2010, during the football World Cup hosted in South Africa. Safe to say their clean sweep of the three formats has been forgotten. This time, they are visiting for a tournament that is seemingly even less relevant: a triangular ODI series scheduled a year before the next major tournament.
With the series comprising day-night games, fans in South Africa are more likely to go to bed and unlikely to watch more than the first 30 overs, but that does not mean there is nothing at stake. For South Africa coach Russell Domingo, almost everything is at stake. Even though the independent review, which was due to scrutinise his performance, has been scrapped, Domingo’s position remains precarious and he will have to turn things around quickly to keep his post. He will also have to do that without the team’s pace ace.
Officially, Dale Steyn was rested for this series in preparation for the Test season but he is instead playing T20 cricket for Glamorgan. Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott will have to carry the attack, and there will also be an opportunity for the spinners to play starring roles. South Africa’s batting line-up is settled and, with AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock to call on, they will be expected to make the final.
West Indies, on the other hand, are in danger of being shut out of their own party, though it seems to have just gotten started following the double World T20 triumphs. In keeping with West Indies’ selection policy of picking only players who were available for their domestic 50-over tournament, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy were left out. Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine are back for the first four matches, but that is scant consolation given their other areas of concern.
The …
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