By CS Chiwanza.
South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first in the first of their three-match series against the West Indies at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, on Thursday.
Brandon King, who was in line to captain the West Indies A side that toured Nepal but did not due to injury, finally gets his opportunity.
The top-order batter will lead a side with a large contingent of players from that tour.
They will be missing several of their A-list T20 cricketers who are expected to be in the starting XI at the T20 World Cup.
Featuring in today’s team is Johnson Charles who recently re-established himself as King’s opening partner and has good memories of facing South African bowlers. He scored a 46-ball 118 when the West Indies toured South Africa.
His form took a bit of a dip, as he strung low scores together in his next five innings after the ton. T
here is no better opportunity for him to regain form than against a team he bludgeoned.
Rassie van der Dussen, who has cause to consider himself unlucky to miss out on a spot in South Africa’s preliminary T20 World Cup squad, will lead the visitors.
Van der Dussen has had an outstanding year in the format, he was the second-highest run-scorer in T20 cricket after Babar Azam.
The experienced campaigner still has an opportunity to impress South African coach Rob Walter and his coaching staff before participating teams hand in their finalised squads.
Quinton de Kock, whose position might be in jeopardy should Van der Dussen impress, has not had a great year with the bat.
He showed few moments of brilliance across three tournaments, the Big Bash League, SA20 and the IPL, but hasn’t done enough to inspire confidence and is riding on the goodwill accrued from years of consistent performance for his country.
He will be looking to re-establish himself in the side to ward off the competition from the slew of batters coming through.
More than anything, the three-match series is an opportunity for players to fine-tune their skills and switch into a higher gear of World Cup preparedness for both sides.
West Indies: Brandon King (capt), Johnson Charles, Kyle Mayers, Roston Chase, Andre Fletcher, Fabian Allen, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Obed McCoy.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton, Matthew Breetzke, Rassie van der Dussen (capt), Wiaan Milder, Andile Phehlukhwayo, Gerald Coetzee, 9 Bjorn Fortuin, Ottneil Baartman, Lungi Ngidi.