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25-Dec-2014 07:15:00 GMT
South Africa v West Indies, 2nd Test, Port Elizabeth

West Indies Face Tough Task Against South Africa

Port Elizabeth: The West Indies face a daunting task when they take on South Africa in the second Test at Port Elizabeth's St George's Park on Friday.

The tourists were outplayed in the first Test at Centurion, where they were beaten by an innings and 220 runs, with the match ending before lunch on the fourth day.

It was such a one-sided contest that South Africa will again be strong favourites, even though there are several factors that favour the West Indians in Port Elizabeth, where the pitches usually offer minimal seam movement and less pace than other South African venues.

It was in the coastal city seven years ago that the West Indies gained their only win in 13 Test matches in South Africa.

Three of the current squad played significant roles, with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (104) and Marlon Samuels (94) the mainstays of a strong first innings, while fast bowler Jerome Taylor had match figures of six for 112.

Chanderpaul played down the significance of conditions at St George's Park when he spoke to journalists on Tuesday.

Chanderpaul and Samuels will again be key players in what appears to be a fragile West Indian batting order. Both will be seeking to improve on their performances in Centurion where Samuels made 33 and 17, while Chanderpaul was out for 21 and four.

Samuels fell victim to a short delivery from Morne Morkel in the first innings while Chanderpaul gloved a vicious bouncer from Dale Steyn in the second innings.

Steyn, who took six for 34 in the second innings at Centurion, has taken 21 wickets in four Tests in Port Elizabeth and said that although the pitch was slower, he could be effective because he was not especially tall.

Earlier this year, Steyn produced a match-winning spell of fast reverse swing bowling against Australia at St George's Park.

South Africa are likely to make two changes to their winning team. Batsman Temba Bavuma is set to become only the sixth black African to play in a Test match for the country, in place of injured wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock, with AB de Villiers keeping wicket, as he did in both innings at Centurion.

Because of the slower surface, South Africa are likely to play a spin bowler, with seamer Kyle Abbott probably sitting out in favour of leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who was drafted into the squad on Tuesday when left-armer Robin Peterson suffered an injury to his bowling hand.

Teams from:

South Africa:
Alviro Petersen, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla (Capt.), AB de Villiers (wk), Stiaan van Zyl, Temba Bavuma, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw

West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite, Devon Smith, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Denesh Ramdin (Capt. & wk), Jermaine Blackwood, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Narsingh Deonarine, Jason Holder, Chadwick Walton, Keon Peters

Stats and trivia

  • Dale Steyn needs two wickets to surpass Makhaya Ntini as South Africa's second-highest wicket-taker, and 11 wickets to reach 400 

Match facts
December 26-30, 2014
Start time 1030 local (0830 GMT)


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