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South Africa aiming for Whitewash

Jun 18, 2010 Sports

Second Test starts today at Warner Park

By Sean Devers in St Kitts
Today Warner Park will host its second ever Test match since the West Indies, led by centuries from Daren Ganga and Ramnaresh Sarwan, drew with India four years ago and a similar result against South Africa will be a moral victory for the struggling Windies side.
The brittle West Indies batting line-up crashed to their lowest total (102) against South Africa in the opening Test in Trinidad and although most of the first day was washed out and Skipper Chris Gayle made 73 in the 2nd innings, West Indies slumped to their 8th consecutive defeat against South Africa on this tour, inside four days.
The West Indies have only beaten South Africa twice in 11 Tests in the Caribbean after their famous win in the first Test between the sides in 1992 in Barbados and with premier batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan and leading pacer Jerome Taylor still injured, a lot will depend on Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the team’s best batsman, if the home team are to save this Test.
Left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn had 8 wickets in the match and 27-year-old off-spinner Shane Shillingford made an impressive debut. But the West Indies new ball pair of debutant Nelon Pascal and Ravi Rampaul failed to take a wicket in the game although South African fast bowlers Dale Steyn (8) and Morne Morkel (6) destroyed the West Indies batting.
On a track not expected to offer as much assistance to the spinners as the one in Trinidad, West Indies could struggle on the small ground although Kemar Roach, who missed the first Test due to an ankle injury should be back. West Indies could once again play both Benn and Shillingford while the exciting 21-year-old Daren Bravo could make his debut.
Despite his inconsistency, Sarwan is a quality batsman and his absence leave a huge whole at the number three position and with Chanderpaul opting to bat at four, Brendon Nash, who never looked comfortable against the new ball, was sacrificed at number three.
The Australian-born left-hander dogged batting has rendered him invaluable to a West Indies team often prone to collapse.
He averages 39.31 in his 12 Tests in which he has shared five century stands with the side in trouble. But his success has been down the order.
Narsingh Deonarine got starts in Trinidad and could be given another chance to cement his place in the side while Dwayne Bravo’s 2nd innings 49 suggested he is returning to form.
While Wicket-Keeper Denish Ramdin continue to disappoint with the bat, the selectors could make the radical move of asking him to open with Gayle to find a place for Daren Bravo in the team to strengthen the batting since Travis Dowlin never looked the part against the new ball in Trinidad.
If young Bravo plays and his brother Dwayne bats at number 7, the West Indies will have 5 left-handers in a row with Benn also to follow at number 8.
South Africa Skipper Graeme Smith, who returned to form with 90 in Trinidad, says his team is hunting another whitewash even as Gayle admits that the batting is the problem and a settled order has not yet been worked out.
Rampaul bowled poorly in Trinidad and Roach could replace him today while if the plan is to go ‘all out’ to avoid defeat, all-rounder Daren Sammy, who will lengthen the batting, could replace Pascal and share the new ball with Roach.
Smith and Alviro Petersen could again open the batting for the visitors with Hasim Amla coming at three. AB deVilliers, Jacque Kallis, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher give South Africa, who has never lost a Test series to West Indies in 18 years, a formidable line-up.
While Steyn and Morkel blew away the West Indians with their pace in Trinidad and Kallis debutant Lonwabo Tsotsobe provided pace support, left-arm spinner Paul Harris looked way below Test standard on a turning track and is not likely to feature for the rest of the series which concludes on what should be a quick, hard Barbados pitch.
This is the hurricane season and thunderstorms are forecast for today and tomorrow.
With the way the West Indies are performing presently, it seems rain is the best bet to deny the tourists their 16th win in 24 Tests against the West Indies to go 2-up in this series.

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