Four players to watch in the upcoming T20 series ...
SOUTH AFRICA Morné van Wyk At 35 years and 295 days old, the Dolphins skipper would have imagined his international career was consigned to the memory bank.
But here he is, getting ready to pull on that Proteas jumper once again in tonight’s first T20 international against the West Indies. And who knows if he goes well in this series – with both bat and gloves – he could be first in line to replace the injured Quinton de Kock should the youngster not recover from his ankle injury in the time for the World Cup.
“I think the last time he played for South Africa was in 2011, so he times his World Cups very well,” Proteas T20 captain Faf du Plessis joked yesterday.
Van Wyk, though, will have a serious role in this T20 side, having to take responsibility behind the stumps, score runs at the top-order and more importantly help Du Plessis in the field with a fairly young Proteas side. “He is a leader and at Dolphins he is a good captain. The more leaders you have in your group, it helps your team a lot,” Du Plessis admitted. Kyle Abbott The Dolphins seamer cracked the nod for the World Cup squad, but will no doubt want to push for a much-sought after place in the starting XI.
Arguably one of the premier death bowlers, due to the fact he is one the few South African bowlers who is able to consistently hit a yorker length, it will be up to Abbott to keep the likes of Darren Sammy, and Andre Russell quiet at the back end of the innings.
He would also have learnt a lot from working with Charl Langeveldt during the build-up to the game this week. WEST INDIES Chris Gayle There are some real superstars in this West Indies team, but the biggest of them all remains Chris Henry Gayle.
His mere presence in the visitors line-up brings an extra couple of thousand people through the turnstiles, while at the same time keeps the opposition bowlers on their toes.
Gayle wet the South African spectators’ appetite for swashbuckling sixes during the RamSlam T20 series while he was at the Highveld Lions, and is now ready to give go full tilt for the Windies. Upon arrival here in Cape Town after missing the Test series, Gayle in his own classic style popped his head into the media conference and asked: “Are you ready for me?” Kieron Pollard The big Trinidadian earned the right of being a honourary Capetonian after his exploits for the Cape Cobras during the RamSlam T20 Challenge.
Pollard owned Newlands for a month, and will no doubt look to rekindle his love affair with the faithful tonight through some big hits into the Members Stand. Also look out for those wonderful Caribbean celebrations that is sure to get the crowd going. THE last time South Africa and the West Indies clashed in a limited-overs match of any sort was a Champions Trophy tie at Cardiff ’s Sophia Gardens in June 2013. It was a rain-affected match, which the teams tied after the West Indies were 190/6 after 26.1 overs when the rain came down in the Welsh capital.
Each team were awarded a point, but it was the Proteas who advanced to the semifinals by virtue of a greater net run rate. Kieron Pollard’s dismissal the ball before the weather interruption tilted the match in South Africa’s favour because of the Duckworth Lewis ruling.
Pollard is here in South Africa looking to avenge that defeat along with the majority of his 2012 World T20-winning teammates. Unlike in the recent Test series where the Windies relied on a host of young players still finding their way on the international circuit, the visitors T20 team boasts “match-winners from Nos 1 to 8”.
World T20-winning captain Darren Sammy will be at the helm here tonight at Newlands, taking over from Denesh Ramdin, for the first T20 International of the three-match series. Alongside him will be superstars Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell, Dwayne Smith, Lendl Simmons and Marlon Samuels. All of these men not only reign supreme in the money-spinning Indian Premier League, but are stand-outperformers in the numerous T20 leagues around the world.
So, even though the Windies won’t be able to call on their World No 1 and 2 T20 bowlers – Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine – for this series, the men from the Caribbean are a formidable outfit in the shortest format of the game, prompting Proteas T20 captain Faf du Plessis to place the “favourites” tag firmly on the former World T20 champions.
Badree is currently injured, while Narine is busy reworking his action under the new ICC regulations.
“West Indies are probably for me the most dangerous T20 team in the world and they have proven that in the T20 World Cup when they won it. With us playing with a few of them in the IPL, we know that the majority of their team are match-winners,” Du Plessis said yesterday.
“From a captain’s point of view, normally if you look at a team then you will find two or three danger hitters, so you sort of build your plans around them, so that you keep them off strike and rather get the players who take longer to score in T20 cricket. But with these guys there isn’t one in the whole top seven, they all very destructive. They are all flair players and they like to attack.”
In an almost full reversal of the Test series, it is in fact the Proteas now who will be testing the waters with a group of new players. Young batsmen such as Knights duo Reeza Hendricks and Rilee Rossouw will continue their apprenticeship after having a taste of international cricket recently in Australia.
The T20 series will also be another chance for teenage speed merchant Kagiso Rabada and fellow pacemen Marchant de Lange and Kyle Abbott to continue their progress at the highest level, especially with Test captain Hashim Amla recently alluding to the fact the “at some stage, like with the batting, we will have to start looking at who will take over” from Dale Steyn, Morné Morkel and Vernon Philander.
“We are quite a young side with a majority of the Test guys getting a rest, and with the one-dayers coming up and the World Cup some of the guys will get some well-deserved offtime. It will be a huge test for us, but that is why you play international cricket,” Du Plessis said. SQUADS FOR NEWLANDS South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), David Wiese, Aaron Phangiso, David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Jean-Paul Duminy, Wayne Parnell, Rilee Rossouw, Morne van Wyk (w/k), Imran Tahir, Marchant de Lange, Reeza Hendricks, Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada, Justin Ontong. West Indies: Darren Sammy (capt), Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Andre Fletcher, Carlos Brathwaite, Sulieman Benn, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons, Denesh Ramdin (w/k), Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels, Ashley Nurse, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo. Start: 6pm; TV: SS2, SSHD, Sabc3; Radio: Radio2000.