West Indies thrashed South Africa by 7 wickets with 13 balls to spare in the series opener at Tarouba on Friday and will look to seal the series when they clash in the second T20I at the same venue on Sunday. South Africa posted a competitive 174 for 7 courtesy a brilliant 76 off just 42 deliveries by Tristan Stubbs. However, the top 3 in the batting line-up fired for the West Indies and they romped home in the 18th over. Nicholas Pooran was the highest impact batter of the match with an undefeated 65 off just 26 deliveries.

LAST 5 MATCHES

WEST INDIES - W L W L W

SOUTH AFRICA - W W W L L

THE LIKELY PLAYING XIs FOR WEST INDIES & SOUTH AFRICA

WEST INDIES likely XI

Batters: Rovman Powell, Alick Athanaze, Sherfane Rutherford

Allrounders: Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase

Wicketkeeper: Nicholas Pooran, Shai Hope

Bowlers: Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie

SOUTH AFRICA likely XI

Batters: Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks, Tristan Stubbs

Allrounders: Aiden Markram, Patrick Kruger

Wicketkeeper: Donovan Ferreira, Ryan Rickelton

Bowlers: Nandre Burger, Kwena Maphaka, Ottneil Baartman, Bjorn Fortuin

Statistical Performance (West Indies)

1. MATTHEW FORDE

Right-arm medium-pacer, Matthew Forde was the pick of the bowlers in the series opener and bagged his second three-wicket haul in just his third T20I for the West Indies and was also very restrictive with the ball.

MATTHEW FORDE IN T20Is

INNINGS - 3

WICKETS - 6

STRIKE RATE - 9.8

ECONOMY RATE - 10.98

AVERAGE - 18

2. NICHOLAS POORAN

Nicholas Pooran showcased his class in the first T20I blasting a match-winning 65 off just 26 deliveries. The highlight of his knock were the seven towering sixes. Pooran has a strike rate of 145 against pace and 129 against spin in T20Is.

NICHOLAS POORAN IN T20Is

INNINGS - 88

RUNS - 2141

AVERAGE - 27.4

STRIKE RATE - 137.8

50/100 - 13/0

Players Who Can Make a Difference (West Indies)

1. ALICK ATHANAZE

Alick Athanaze scored 40 off 30 deliveries in the first T20I. Athanaze has earned great praise from none other than Brian Lara who described him as the most talented of the current generation of West Indian batters.

2. ROMARIO SHEPHERD

Romario Shepherd has picked 41 wickets in 38 innings for the West Indies at a strike rate of 17.8 and can also hit the long ball in the lower-order. He has a strike rate of 145.2 in T20I cricket.

Statistical Performance (South Africa)

1. TRISTAN STUBBS

Tristan Stubbs lived up to his billing and hammered a magnificent 76 off just 42 deliveries in the first T20I at Tarouba. Stubbs is a fine player of spin bowling and has a strike rate of 162.3 against the slower bowlers in T20 cricket.

TRISTAN STUBBS IN T20Is

INNINGS - 22

RUNS - 480

AVERAGE - 28.2

STRIKE RATE - 133.7

50/100 - 2/0

2. PATRICK KRUGER

Batting all-rounder, Patrick Kruger impressed with a quickfire 44 off 32 deliveries in the series opener and displayed a good temperament absorbing the pressure of the early fall of wickets, resurrecting the innings and then scoring freely. Kruger has scored 1895 runs in all T20 cricket at a strike rate of 127.6 while also picking 39 wickets at a bowling strike rate of 18.2.

PATRICK KRUGER IN T20Is

INNINGS - 2

RUNS - 60

AVERAGE - 60

STRIKE RATE - 133.3

50/100 - 0/0

Players Who Can Make a Difference (South Africa)

1. KWENA MAPHAKA

Kwena Maphaka was the most impressive of the South African bowlers in what was his T20I debut in the series opener picking the wicket of Powell and conceding just 25 runs in his 3.5 overs. Maphaka was the leading wicket-taker of the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa earlier this year.

2. Aiden Markram

Markram has an aggregate of 1255 runs in 45 innings at an average of 33 and strike rate of 143.6 in T20Is and will be the playmaker for South Africa in the top-middle order.

Venue and Pitch

The Brian Lara Stadium at Tarouba in Trinidad has hosted 10 T20Is with the team chasing winning 6 of these matches. The captain who has won the toss has elected to chase first in as many as 8 matches, showcasing that batting second is the preferred option at the venue. The team which has won the toss has gone on to win 6 matches for a win probability of 60%.

The average team total batting first at the venue is 133 while the average score chasing is 118. The spinners have made as much of an impact as the pacers at the venue. They have bagged 39 wickets at an average of 21.2 and economy of 6.87 at Tarouba. The pacers have picked 88 wickets at an average of 18.3 and economy of 7.2.

Head to Head Record

South Africa and West Indies have faced each other in 24 T20Is and it is a neck to neck rivalry with a 12-12 head to head record. However, West Indies have won four of the last five encounters between the two teams.

MATCH PREDICTION

West Indies start favourites to seal the series. They have a stronger and more destructive batting unit and the conditions will favour their stroke-makers. West Indies have a 62% chance of winning the match.

FANTASY XI

Our fantasy XI includes Alick Athanaze and Stubbs as batters and Pooran, Hope and Ferreira as the wicket-keepers. The all-rounders will be Shepherd, Kruger and Markram while the bowlers are Maphaka, Forde and Hosein. The reserve batter is Hendricks, all-rounder is Chase while the bowler is Joseph. The captain will be Stubbs while the vice-captain will be Pooran.

Fantasy XI:

Wicketkeeper: Nicholas Pooran (VC), Donovan Ferreira, Shai Hope

Batters: Alick Athanaze, Tristan Stubbs (C)

Allrounders: Aiden Markram, Romario Shepherd, Patrick Kruger

Bowlers: Akeal Hosein, Kwena Maphaka, Matthew Forde

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER – Reeza Hendricks

BOWLER – Shamar Joseph

ALL-ROUNDER – Roston Chase

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