Southampton - South Africa, minus the services of their premier fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Lungi Ngidi, will face a powerful West Indies side in a must-win World Cup 2019 clash for the former at The Rose Bowl in Southampton on Monday.
South Africa, who have made the worst possible start at the World Cup, losing three matches on the trot, need to win their last six matches in the round-robin format to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals. However, it will be a huge ask for South Africa as the West Indies have shown intent with the bat and ball in their previous two matches.
So far, nothing has been going South Africa’s way as pacer Dale Steyn has been ruled out due to injury while Lungi Ngidi is also unfit for the game on Monday.
South Africa have plenty to discuss about their inconsistent performances with the bat and their openers - Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla will have to surely fire against the Windies.
However, their middle-order looks decent and the lower order has also chipped in with runs. The Proteas now need to play fearless and attacking cricket.
Meanwhile, the West Indies will look to rise up from their narrow defeat to Australia, a game which was under their control. While their aggressive opening bowling in the first two matches have impressed everyone and if it happens again, it could be another threat for the Proteas as their openers have failed to fire. It was poor shot selection by the Carribean batsmen in their run-chase against Australia, which cost them the match.
However, having won their opening fixture and pushing closer to victory against Australia, they will be the favourites in Monday’s game. South Africa, however, have a 4-2 advantage over the West Indies in World Cup games.
South Africa will also need to put aside the fallout from their decision to overlook AB de Villiers, said key bowler Kagiso Rabada. It was confirmed last week that De Villiers, regarded as one of the world’s leading batsmen, had approached South Africa captain Faf du Plessis and coach Ottis Gibson about a return to the side having retired from international cricket last May.
The approach was rebuffed by South Africa’s selectors but was reported in the media at a difficult time for the team after they lost their opening three matches of the World Cup to England, Bangladesh and India.
“There has been a lot happening off the field, so it’s a bit of a weird stage for the Proteas,” Rabada told a news conference on Sunday. “We have to deal with what we have. There is no point complaining about it,” Rabada said. “Unfortunately, we’ve had quite a few problems in this tournament with injuries and we’ve had to work our way around it. We just need a few things to click... We’re looking to turn it around tomorrow.”
Rabada will be South Africa’s lead attack bowler in a match they must win to keep alive their slim hopes. “We need a few things to click and we are working our way around it. And so we are looking to turn it around tomorrow. “We have done our analysis already. We’ve put our plans in place. The West Indies are a dangerous team. When they get going, they can really hurt the opposition, so we are aware of their threat. But we believe that we can beat them,” Rabada added.