West Indies v South Africa

[swooperman]

1st test starts thursday in Guyana. Squads: WI - Chanderpaul ©, Browne, Hinds W, Smith D, Pagon, Deonarine, Ganga, Hinds R, Collymore, Collins, Washington, Powell, Taylor, King. SA - Smith ©, Boje, Boucher, De Villiers, Dippenaar, Gibbs, Hall, Kallis, Langeveldt, Nel, Ntini, Pollock, Prince, Rudolph, Zondeki. Previous series - 1991/2. 1 test. WI won 1-0. in WI 1998/9. 5 tests. SA won 5-0. in SA 2000/1. 5 tests. SA won 2-1. in WI 2003/4. 4 tests. SA won 3-0. in SA Overall - 15 tests, SA 10, WI 2, drawn 3. In WI - 6 tests, SA 2, WI 2, drawn 2. Overall personal Records. WI v SA - Kallis - 14m, 1464r, HS177, avg 73.2, 5x100 Gibbs - 13m, 1257r, HS192, avg 57.13, 3x100 Boucher - 14m, 486r, HS122*, avg 25.57, 2x100 Smith - 4m, 418r, HS139, avg 69.66, 2x100 Chanderpaul - 10m, 622r, HS109, avg 31.1, 1x100 Lara - 15m, 1322r, HS202, avg 44.06, 2x100 Gayle - 8m, 692r, HS116, avg 43.25, 2x100 Sarwan - 8m, 630r, HS119, avg 39.37, 2x100 I mention the last 3 as they are more than likely to make an appearance at some point. Pollock - 14m, 65w @ 21.7 Kallis - 14m, 42w @ 24.16 Ntini - 8m, 36w @ 25.44 Nel - 4m, 22w @ 23.18 Boje - 4m, 15w @ 29.46 Dillon, 11m, 33w @ 37.21 No other WI bowlers seem to have played against SA to any degree, Dillons stats just in on off-chance, he may have retired for all I know :lol Worth pointing out, & hard to believe this, but all of the 19 individual centuries above were all scored in SA, none in WI!! :eek Shaun Pollock will miss the 1st test, & probably the 2nd. Kallis is unlikely to bowl in either. Bourda, Georgetown - Guyana. Ave runs per wkt - 35.86. breakdown: 1-35.5, 2-37.6, 3-31.0, 4-45.2. Ave run rate - 2.75 Overall record - 29m, side won batting 1st - 5, 2nd - 8, drawn - 16. WI record - 29m, won - 7, lost - 6, drawn - 16. WI won toss & batted - 16,winning 4, losing 3. Bowled - 3, winning1, losing 0. Overall teams winning toss & batting - 25, bowling - 4. Only once has a team chosen to bowl & won the match. Last 5 tests on ground - 2002/3. WI 237 (50.3) & 398 (105.2). AUS 489 (115.1) & 147-1 (42.1) AUS won by 9 wkts. 2001/2. WI 501 (163.1). IND 395-7 (140.3) drawn 2000/1. WI 304 (124.1) & 333-7 (117). SA 332 (127) & 142-2 (69.3) drawn 1999/2000. PAK 288 (123.3) WI 222-7 (87) drawn 1997/8. WI 352 (128.1) & 197 (72). ENG 170 & 137 (62.1) WI won by 243 runs. 4 of the last 6 tests have been draws. The 2000/1 test v SA is the only previous meeting on this ground. Individual ground records of note - Chanderpaul - (home ground, 1st test as captain) 6m, 555r, HS140, avg 92.5, 3x100 Lara - 6m, 548r, HS167, avg 60.88, 2x100 Weather forecast is terrible, scattered thunderstorms all the way through, certainly from yesterday until the end of the test. Hard one to call this for me, what with the 'stars' missing from the WI side, although they may return yet, certainly for the 2nd test in the event of a mauling. Lara has turned down an 'invitation' to play, unless the others are recalled as well, does he smell a rout?? Weathers crap, possibly making all this irrelevant, but if I were SA I would fancy a win in 3 days play against this side. But it might unite the WIs without the showponies, but difficult, as little is known about some of these players. SA missing Pollock could be key as well, especially as Kallis is unlikely to bowl also. Bet365: WI 13/2. draw6/5. SA 10/11. whilst were at it, series odds: WI 9/2, SA 4/9, draw 10/3. 1st test 1st innings lead: SA 2/9, WI 3/1. Any thoughts??

[zonker84]

Re: West Indies v South Africa Ntini top South African series wicket-taker @ 7/4 perhaps? Kallis has a good record against West Indies at home, but only averaged 29.66 on the last Test series in the West Indies. I'd be interested in him to top score in the series for SA, but only 2/1 on offer. I wouldn't want to oppose Kallis in this market really, with Gibbs the only real possible alternative for me. He is too hit and miss @ 4/1 though. Wouldn't want to be backing South Africa for the series, as they're not that much better than West Indies, if the "rebel" players return, which they probably will at some point. For that reason, wouldn't want to get involved in the top West Indies batsman/bowler markets. Don't see much at the moment for this, bar the Ntini bet possibly. Certainly the first match is one to look at in-running, rather than taking a definate view now I feel :ok