Tag: Dinesh Ramdin

Cricket: South Africa welcome back de Kock for final ODI

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The South African cricketing summer ends tonight with the final ODI between the hosts and the West Indies.  SuperSport Park is expected to be packed as locals take up the final chance to see their side off before they fly off to Australia and New Zealand to try and win the Cricket World Cup.

Centurion’s day nighter is the also the final chance for teams to tinker with their line-ups ahead of the warm-up games.  West Indies probably won’t tinker after their dramatic win in game four, but South Africa have already hinted at some changes.  Therefore it should be an exciting finale.

The Last Time These Two Met

The West Indies enjoyed an unlikely first win of the series in Port Elizabeth.  The win was brought about by a fantastic chase of 263 that for the most part looked unlikely.  Andre Russell (64*) and Darren Sammy (51) combined to wrestle the initiative away from a South African side who themselves had fallen behind early and needed a rescue effort of their own.  Their rescue was led by David Miller who made a tremendous 130.  His knock didn’t really deserve to be on the losing side, but neither did Russell’s. Although the win doesn’t affect the series it will add some respectability to the series scoreline.

The Teams

South Africa (likely): 1 Hashim Amla (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Rilee Rossouw, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 David Miller, 8 Wayne Parnell, 9 Kyle Abbott 10 Vernon Philander, 11 Aaron Phangiso

The glorious sight of Quentin de Kock at the top of the order will put smiles on a lot of South African fans’ faces as they build towards the Cricket World Cup.  He’ll open with Amla, with Rossouw dropping down to 4 to fill the void left by AB de Villiers’ rest.  Dale Steyn is still resting too, meaning another chance for Abbott, while Phangiso may get another chance instead of Imran Tahir.

West Indies (likely):  1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Leon Johnson, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 6 Jonathan Carter, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Andre Russell, 9 Jason Holder (capt), 10 Carlos Brathwaite , 11 Sheldon Cottrell

Injury concerns for Lendl Simmons and Sulieman Benn could mean the West Indies field the same side that won game 4 at Port Elizabeth.

The Key Players

Quinton de Kock – The 22-year-old enters the series for the first time after a long ankle enforced injury layoff, and will come under immediate scrutiny from opposition bowlers and the South African selectors.  When fit de Kock is definitely a part of the best team on account of his batting prowess and his keeping that eases the burden on de Villiers.  However, he doesn’t have much time to prove he’s fit and in form.  Especially given how well Russouw and van Wyk have done in his absence.

Darren Sammy – Andre Russell got most of the plaudits for guiding his side to a first victory in the series the last time the teams played, but Sammy deserves some too.  The former captain was instrumental in the chase – without his contribution it would have been too much for Russell to do.  He’s a true professional that has rolled with a number of WICB punches over the years, and we love the fact he still gives his all every time.  We’re expecting another explosive performance from Sammy.

The Odds*

South Africa – $1.34

West Indies – $3.25

*Courtesy of BetEasy.

The Prediction

No de Villiers, no Steyn.  Ama returning, de Kock returning.  The personnel changes tend to balance themselves out a bit, and Amla never really fails.  Even still, take a punt on West Indies again.  Worth it at that money and Gayle is due.

Cricket: Steyn and co to wreck Boxing Day havoc

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

South Africa’s concern over their revamped batting line-up was misguided.  In their first outing without Smith and Kallis (and Duminy to an extent) the side amassed a whopping 552/5 to ease the worry about the post veteran era.  The truth is however, that their opponents are significantly weaker and are unlikely to test too many international batting lineups, especially given the uncertainty surrounding the WICB and with their bowling likely to suffer with the injury to Kemar Roach.

Port Elizabeth shapes as a test of depth for the West Indians.  The players are the best available save for injuries and now they just need to prove it.  While the tour will provide a heap of experience for youngsters like Blackwood and Johnson, for the sake of the cricket it still needs to be an even contest and for that reason it needs runs from the pair; along with more telling contributions from Chanderpaul, Smith and Ramdin.

The Last Time These Two Met

The first test went exactly to plan for the favourites.  Their batsman got some valuable crease time and added centuries to their career stats columns.  What’s more their new number six (and possible opening solution if Alviro Petersen continues to fail) got in on the act too.  Stiaan van Zyl scoring 101* to match hundreds from AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla.  That meant South Africa only needed to bat once as the West Indies struggled to just 201 and 131 with none of their batsmen passing 40.

The Teams

South Africa (likely): 1 Alviro Petersen, 2 Dean Elgar, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Hashim Amla (capt), 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Stiaan van Zyl, 7 Temba Bavuma, 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir

South Africa have lost wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock for the series to an ankle injury which will see AB de Villiers take back the gloves to assist the balance of the team.  The final batting spot should go to Temba Bavuma in a historic selection.  Kyle Abbott is also out; Imran Tahir replaces him.

West Indies (likely): 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Leon Johnson, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Jermaine Blackwood, 7 Denesh Ramdin (capt, wk), 8 Jerome Taylor, 9 Shannon Gabriel, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Sheldon Cottrell

Shannon Gabriel for Kemar Roach is expected to be the only change.

The Key Players

Dale Steyn – Steyn had no wickets in the first innings at Centurion but destroyed the West Indies in the second dig snaring 6 in just over 8 overs.  It was his 25th five wicket haul and further outlined his potency in his home conditions.  He is so effective on bouncing wickets and Port Elizabeth should be be no different. I hope for the West Indies sake they have tightened their back foot defence in preparation for some Steyn chin music.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul – It’s rare when Chanderpaul doesn’t score runs.  For someone that has scored over 11,000 test match runs at an average above 52 there are not many rough patches.  However, he may be going through one at the moment.  It may only be three innings but the 40 year old has struggled in South Africa thus far.  He followed up his warm up game duck with 21 and 4 in the first test, getting caught behind the wicket on both occasions.  The tourists will be desperate for Shiv to bounce back from the double failure and rediscover the form he had in the Bangladesh series.

The Odds*

South Africa – $1.22

Draw – $5.00

West Indies – $15.00

*International Cricket odds courtesy of Ladbrokes Australia.

The Prediction

The menacing South African pace attack of Steyn, Philander and Morkel will inevitably be too skilful for a West Indies team that is missing two quality batsman to pose any real threat.  The South African batsman could really feast out on the West Indies attack too, so steer clear of any low odd run scoring and lump on a South African win.