Deadline: June 10, 2019 at 3 PM IST
Venue: The Rose Bowl, Southampton
Pitch and conditions
The pitch at Rose Bowl has perfect recipes for an exciting game of cricket. The contest between India and South Africa saw an even battle between batsmen, pacers, and spinners. The pitch provided enough swing for Jasprit Bumrah to dismiss both South African openers. The pitch provided enough zip and turn for Yuzvendra Chahal to bag four wickets. The pitch provided enough time for Rohit Sharma to stitch an attractive hundred. You get the gist.
Probable XI for South Africa: Hashim Amla/Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis (c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jean-Paul Duminy, Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir
Probable XI for West Indies: Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (c), Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.
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Head-to-head in World Cup
South Africa (4) – West Indies (2)
South Africa’s dream fading away
Three defeats in three matches has pushed South Africa in further enigma. It is not the defeats that is hurting them but the manner in which they have been playing. They bowled well against England, but their batsmen failed to put up a brave fight. Although their batsmen gave their all against Bangladesh, their bowlers had already conceded runs that were beyond their reach. Against India, they were outplayed in all the departments. Add Dale Steyn’s exit due to a shoulder injury and the trending news of AB de Villiers wanting to play the World Cup to all this drama and you’ll feel more sad for them.
West Indies cannot afford to lose focus
West Indies’ game against Australia was theirs to win. They reduced Australia to 79 for 5, reminding us of the vintage West Indies pace attack. But that was that. West Indies let them off the hook, so much so that Australia ended up posting 288 all out. The ever-improving Steven Smith scored a resilient innings of 73 and Nathan Coulter-Nile, to everyone’s surprise, scored a magnificent 92 at No. 8.
In reply, only Shai Hope and Jason Holder could score runs at will. The likes of Chris Gayle and Andre Russell perished in the pursuit of playing attacking cricket. If West Indies do not qualify for the semi-final, they will look back at this match and regret it all their lives. Australia were never supposed to emerge triumphant.
West Indies’ bowling vs South Africa’s batting
West Indies look in no mood to bat first. They want their pacers to exploit the conditions before it gets easier for the batsmen to score runs. If they bowl first again, they will use the short-ball tactics. But if Faf du Plessis wins the toss, he will purposely elect to bowl first and put a damper on West Indies’ plans. However, South Africa have only one premium pacer in Kagiso Rabada. They will have to be mindful of their plans, for their batsmen haven’t looked confident in their stroke play thus far.
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South Africa won today match