One-Day finale in the ‘Bullring’

JOHANNESBURG: Taken aback by the general reluctance to give them much credit for an outstanding batting performance three days earlier, the West Indies cricketers go into today’s final one-dayer against South Africa at The Wanderers seeking, among other things, to prove that the victory in Centurion was no fluke. The impressive run-chase at SuperSport Park, which saw the Caribbean side reaching 300 for three with five overs to spare to pull the series back to 2-1 in favour of the hosts, has not only kept the five-match series alive going in the last match of a three-month southern African tour, but prompted a series of excuses suggesting that the visitors’ winning effort in the fourth match had more to do with the failure of the home team to perform at their usual high standard.

West Indies captain Brian Lara reacted sharply to Graeme Smith’s comment after Sunday’s match that his players were tired after a long campaign, making the obvious point that both teams were playing in the same series while the tourists had also been involved in a month-long duel with a competitive Zimbabwean team before arriving in South Africa. A host of influential former players have also joined the South African captain in putting most of the emphasis on poor bowling and an ideal batting pitch to explain away a defeat that has not for the first time exposed a vulnerable psyche when the pressure is on. Yet that could all change in a matter of hours once again, particularly as Lara has made clear his dislike for the day/night match which he believes makes batting second under lights much more difficult. The Wanderers pitch may be full of runs, but the searing heat in Johannesburg that often produces late-afternoon and evening thunderstorms is also of concern for the team chasing any reasonable target under lights. All of which means that there will be more than just a passing interest in the toss as the captain who gets it right will almost certainly choose to bat first.

South Africa are again expected to field the same team that has played in the previous four matches. They would have been hoping to give other members of their 14-man squad an opportunity, but a combination of the rain-ruined third match in Durban and the West Indian triumph in Centurion means they can ill-afford to experiment with the series still at stake. Ironically, the fact that the tourists can still salvage some pride from what has been generally another disappointing foreign campaign means that Kurt Wilkinson and Ian Bradshaw will probably have to wait for another series to make their senior international debuts. It would be surprising if either of the untried Barbadian pair is selected for the tour finale, although it is expected that Ryan Hurley will make way for the return of Vasbert Drakes. The 34-year-old seamer has not played since the opening one-dayer in Cape Town, but the combination of his experience in South African conditions along with Hurley’s failures with the bat throughout the series and poor bowling effort at SuperSport Park make the change almost inevitable.

The formula of using Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the foundation stone of the innings alongside the raw aggression of Chris Gayle and Ricardo Powell worked perfectly in the last match, paving the way for Ramnaresh Sarwan’s consolidation job and Lara’s final flourish. That plan will be further enhanced if Gayle can get his first significant innings of the series, a prospect that not only West Indians, but many South African fans have been looking forward to after his exploits in the final two Tests. Fast bowler Mervyn Dillon, whose infuriating inconsistency personifies the plight of the Caribbean side over the last six years, also has the chance to make amends for his woeful inaccuracy of three days earlier. A capacity crowd at The Wanderers was guaranteed long before the Caribbean triumph at Centurion, but that stunning result has heightened anticipation for this final day/night duel at a venue aptly dubbed as “The Bullring.” With a full house urging on the home team in the surreal atmosphere under lights, it is an intimidating prospect that will separate the men from the boys in the West Indian camp. A victory and a shared one-day series will not mask the fact that the tourists were almost completely outplayed in the Tests, as reflected in the 3-0 margin of defeat. But it will certainly ease the pain and give players and fans alike something to smile about and a sense of optimism before England arrive in the Caribbean for a series that begins in just five weeks’ time.

TEAMS
South Africa (probable) — Graeme Smith (captain), Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Rudolph, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Robin Peterson, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel.
West Indies (probable) - Brian Lara (captain), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ricardo Powell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith, Ridley Jacobs, Vasbert Drakes, Mervyn Dillon, Ravi Rampaul, Corey Collymore.