There are no secrets between the West Indies and South Africa, who clash in a Super Eight match of so-far unbeaten sides at the T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad on Thursday (11.30am SA time).
Besides the three-match series in South Africa that preceded the tournament, some of the West Indies’ senior players were involved in the SA20. Sherfane Rutherford, the captain, Shai Hope and Roston Chase were teammates of Keshav Maharaj at the Pretoria Capitals. Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, though he didn’t play, was at the Paarl Royals, and the other left-arm spinner, Akeal Hosein, played 11 matches for the Joburg Super Kings.
In a match of great consequence for both sides, the winner virtually assures themselves of a spot in the semifinals.
“They are explosive,” said Maharaj of their opponents.
“Rutherford and [Shimron] Hetmyer are in unbelievable form at the moment,” added Tristan Stubbs.
Because they know what’s coming, the Proteas will also be aware that the West Indies is not just about muscular hitting. There is plenty of craft and subtlety in their approach with both bat and ball.
Rutherford was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the SA20, but while his strike rate was 165.34, that success wasn’t built on just being able to clobber sixes all the time. On more than one occasion he had to bat the Capitals out of trouble — twice in the company of Dewald Brevis — and it was the unique scoring areas he found that made him particularly difficult to contain.
He’s continued that good form in the World Cup, but hasn’t needed to score a similar weight of runs because Hetmyer and Hope have dominated at the top of the order. Hetmyer was shifted to the No 3 spot in that series in SA and is the second-highest run-scorer at the tournament with 219 runs, while Hope has scored 169 runs.
Hosein and Motie have been an excellent double act. Hosein bowls in the power play, while Motie — who worked with Tabraiz Shamsi during the West Indies tour in SA — has refound his confidence and is tied with India’s Varun Chakravarthy and Pakistan’s Usman Tariq as the tournament’s leading wicket-taking spinners with 10.
Along with effective changes in pace, the pair also “bowl really good lengths and lines”, according to Maharaj. With Thursday’s being a day game, they’ll also be able to take advantage of any grip on the surface.
However, the Proteas are not as fallible to spin as was once the case. They proved as much in the Test format by winning three out of four matches in the subcontinent last year, and in this year’s World Cup they handled two of Afghanistan’s spin threats comfortably, although Rashid Khan did create problems.
Chakravarthy also had little success against them for India last Sunday. Maharaj said it is important for the players to refocus after that victory against the tournament favourites. “Coming back after the win against India, there was a real buzz in the camp. You’ve just beaten probably the best side in the competition. We are not getting carried away. There is a lot of cricket to be played,” he said.
Defeat would halt the momentum of one of the teams but would not prove fatal. Both won their respective first Super Eight matches comfortably, earning a significant advantage as far as net run rate was concerned, and still have a match remaining.
Neither side gains an advantage for the semifinal from topping the group, owing to a revised stipulation by the ICC, told to the teams only at the start of the Super Eight phase. Should either of them face Pakistan or Sri Lanka in the semifinal, then they would have to travel to Colombo for a knockout fixture.
While all teams were aware that facing Pakistan in the semifinal or final meant a trip to the Sri Lankan capital, the ICC’s change to the schedule, first reported at the weekend, means Sri Lanka could play a home semifinal as long as their opponent isn’t India. In that case the semifinal would take place in Mumbai.
TimesLIVE
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