South Africa are looking to close out their best-of-five one-day international series against West Indies with a victory in the third match on Wednesday.
The South Africans lead the best-of-five series 2-0, after winning the first two matches at Kingston by the identical margin of eight wickets on Saturday and Sunday.
The series ends on Saturday and Sunday with back-to-back matches at Port of Spain, but the South Africans will not want to wait that long to seal the series victory that would follow similar success in the preceding four-Test rubber they won 2-0.
South Africa have taken control of the series with their disciplined cricket, as opposed to carelessness from their opponents.
It is widely regarded that the West Indies chase runs more successfully than they set targets for the opposition, and the South Africans have used this to their advantage.
But the home team will relish the opportunity of taking on Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Andre Nel, and company with a target fully in view.
The most glaring difference between the two sides continues to be the bowling.
South Africa bowled with discipline to restrict the West Indies to 253 in the first match, and 152 for seven in the second, but the home team were only able to pick off two batsmen in each contest.
This will have to change significantly for the West Indies, and they have included fast-bowler Fidel Edwards, in place of his brother Pedro Collins, as one of two changes to their line-up.
Michael ”Joey” Carew, convener of the West Indies selectors, said the team are in a must-win situation and he expects the option of the quicker bowler to give them greater wicket-taking capability.
”We need to put the opposition under pressure a lot more than we have done in the first two games, and with this squad we are looking forward to a positive result,” he said.
The other change sees Runako Morton, a batsman who bowls steady medium-pace, return to international cricket after two years to replace the out-of-sorts Wavell Hinds.
Morton last played for West Indies at the 2002 International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, from which he returned home early, supposedly to attend the funeral of his grandmother.
It was later revealed that Morton had concocted the story because he was unhappy that he had not been selected. He was subsequently banned for one year and ordered to undergo counselling.
Morton returned with a flourish in the West Indies domestic limited-overs competition late last year, and followed up with a solid performance in the West Indies first-class championship earlier this year.
Kensington Oval, venue for the match and the 2007 ICC World Cup Final, has hosted 18 previous one-day internationals, but it has not been a happy hunting ground for the West Indies in this style of the game.
West Indies have lost half of the matches they have contested at the ground, including the past six on the trot. — Sapa-AFP
Squads
West Indies (from): Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Ian Bradshaw, Dwayne Bravo, Courtney Browne, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Christopher Gayle, Brian Lara, Xavier Marshall, Runako Morton, Daren Powell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith.
South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (captain), Mark Boucher, Abraham de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Justin Kemp, Charl Langeveldt, Justin Ontong, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince.