1st Test: Can West Indies ace the South Africa challenge?
West Indies are gearing up to host South Africa in a two-match Test series, starting on August 7. The Proteas will head into the series as favorites as they have named a full-strength squad. WI, meanwhile, have multiple areas to focus upon as they suffered a 0-3 whitewash in the away Test series against England last month. Here's the preview for the opener.
Pitch report and streaming details
The Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain will host the opening game. The track here is known to assist fast bowlers. Therefore, the new-ball bowlers are expected to perturb the openers with swing and pace. Challenging conditions await the two teams. While the game won't be live telecasted in India, the FanCode app will provide the live steaming (7:30pm IST).
Here's the head-to-head record
SA have a 22-3 win-loss record over West Indies in Test cricket (Draws: 7). At home, WI have suffered eight defeats besides registering a couple of victories against the Proteas team in this format (Draws: 5). Notably, the Caribbean team last won a Test match against SA in December 2007. Meanwhile, WI's previous home Test win against SA came in April 2001 in Kingston.
Key details about the squads
SA all-rounder Marco Jansen has been rested. Meanwhile, Kemar Roach has returned to the WI Test team after missing the England series due to fitness issues. Alzarri Joseph has been rested. Though WI did well in patches against England and even earned a first-innings lead in Nottingham, their inability to capitalize key moments hurt them. SA will field a balanced combination.
Here are the probable XIs
WI (Probable XI): Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Kemar Roach, Gudakesh Motie, Kevin Sinclair, Jayden Seales. SA (Probable XI): Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Wiaan Mulder, Dane Piedt, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger.
Here are SA's key performers
As per ESPNcricinfo, team skipper Temba Bavuma has hammered 813 Test runs at 42.78 since the start of 2022. Kagiso Rabada has scalped 71 wickets in this period at a brilliant average of 20.54. Aiden Markram owns a Test average of 48.57 against the Caribbean team. Keshav Maharaj has played two Tests in WI and has a fifer to his name.
Who are WI's key performers?
Kemar Roach has 39 Test wickets at 30.82 since the start of 2022. Jayden Seales averages 26.76 with the ball in this period as his tally includes 34 scalps. Kraigg Brathwaite has scored 1,194 Test runs at home at 37.31 since 2019. Kavem Hodge scored a brilliant hundred in Nottingham in the recently concluded series against England.
