It’s the first time the hosts have batted first in this series, and they’ve overcome a rather rocky start to post a competitive 167-6 at the close.
South Africa remained unchanged, while the Windies reintroduced Gayle back in the lineup, as well as strengthened their bowling with the out-and-out pace of Fidel Edwards. Having been asked to bat first, Lendl Simmons announced his intentions right from the beginning, smashing 20 from Aiden Markram’s first over. He continued to pepper the boundary regularly, but found it difficult to rotate strike.
With Anrich Nortje striking first ball to remove the dangerous Evin Lewis and Kagiso Rabada dismissing Chris Gayle, it looked like the Windies were in for trouble.
The South African spinners, Linde and Shamsi, continued to pile on the woes, as Simmons, Hetmyer, and Pooran, and Russell all fell in the middle overs.
It wasn’t until the final two overs where Kieron Pollard opened up and played the much-needed captain’s knock of 51 from 25 with 2 fours and 5 sixes. There was a point where 150 seemed unreachable, but the late hitting brought 160-170 into the equation. A couple of lusty blows from Fabian Allen helped provide handy support for the skipper.
It’s the Proteas’ first chase, and it’s a priceless opportunity to seize the initiative and show that the batting, not only the bowling, can win games on a regular basis. Can they seal the series today, or do the hosts have other plans?
WI 167/6 (Pollard 51*, Simmons 47 – Shamsi 4-0-13-2, Linde 4-0-16-2)