You keep underestimating them and they’ll keep knocking the ball out of the park and proving you wrong.
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West Indies have acquired this image of not being amongst the elite of the world and that is what eggs them on to do things that no one expects them to. They know they deserve to be amongst the best and it’s only because of their power hitting approach combined with their ‘entertaining’ outlook on the pitch that people sometimes don’t take them too seriously. But that is how they approach cricket, why does it always have to be about rotating strike and caressing the ball through covers? Why can’t it be about striking the ball as hard as you want and consistently succeeding in doing that?
Aut by winning the WT20 in 2012 and 2016 and beating Australia and South Africa in this series, they have shown that they need to be held in the highest regard.
In the last game Australia put up a decent enough score on board but with the short boundaries and the muscle power of the Windies 260 odd was never going to be enough. Khawaja and Smith played brilliantly but the late order surge was missing from the Australian innings and thus they couldn’t gather enough runs to put on the board.
Jonathan Charles and Andre Fletcher came out with positive intentions scoring boundaries at will but it was Marlon Samuels’ gritty knock of 92 that helped the Windies cross the line and take a huge leap towards the tri series final.
Tonight they welcome the South African’s and the last time these two sides met, Narine tortured the Proteas with his trickery and while there won’t be much assistance at the Warner Park for him, his skill will surely trouble the batsman again.
The mantra for South Africa is very simple, if even two batsmen from their top order fire, their win percentage rises dramatically.
Amla, QDK, Du Plesis and ABD; two from these need to play a big knock to have any chance of beating the West indies in familiar and likeable conditions.
Let’s get to business now!
Batsmen
Hashim Amla and Faf Du Plesis will be my first two picks for the game. On a surface that doesn’t offer much assistance to the bowlers these two players should bat freely and even if the surface springs up a surprise or two, they have the required to ammunition to counter it.
Andre Fletcher is my third batsman for the day. He has looked in decent enough touch throughout the series and by opening the batting he gets a lot of time to express himself. He is a better pick than JP Duminy.
Wicketkeeper
When you have a ground whose dimensions are comparable to the Chinnaswamy’s you get ABD in no matter what.
All Rounder
Keiron Pollard is worth Rs 9500 in the Moneyball9 Fantasy game and if I bring him in it’ll be upset the entire team combination.
I’ll get one from Morris and Braithwaite into my side. Now, according to reports, Morris might come in for Abbott today, but we’ll have to wait for the toss to check that. If Morris plays, he should be your first choice all rounder as his Yorkers would render the big hitting skills of the Windies useless.
But if he doesn’t Braithwaite should be your next pick.
Bowlers
Kagiso Rabada has been a tad expensive but because he bowls at the death and that he comes for just Rs 5000 in the Moneyball9 Fantasy game, makes him a very attractive pick.
Next up are Kyle Abbott and Aaron Phangiso. Both of them come in as budget picks. Abbott bowls at the death and Phangiso could exploit the tiring Warner Park pitch.
Flexible player
Farhaan Behardein will be my flexible player for today. He comes in down the order and gives the Proteas the required oomph in the final 10. Also, he costs just Rs 6000 in the Moneyball game, which helps with the overall team combination.
I could only opt for two West Indies players as all of them cost a lot of money and I wanted to invest in Amla, Faf and ABD.
Happy team picking!
