South Africa and West Indies lost their first match of the World T20 Cup on Tuesday. While South Africa lost against Australia, the English team defeated West Indies. Hence, it is crucial for both the teams to win this match. The match is scheduled to take place at the Dubai International Stadium.
Dubai's surface will be a boon for South Africa
The slow surface at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium created a fuss for the South African batsmen and they failed to score good. This time the match is being played in Dubai and the surface is going to be much better. That means Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller will have the responsibility to score for their team.
The bowling duo of Enrique Nortje and Kagiso Rabada are set to play a key role in the bowling order for South Africa. They have both played the entire Indian T20 league season together in UAE and therefore they know what to expect from the surface. Opening wickets will be needed to keep West Indies batting under control.
A bad performance doesn't define a good team
West Indies were bowled out for just 55 against England in the first match. A team like West Indies can not accept such an insulting loss and they would most likely bounce back stronger. The team's batting is dangerous and they should not be underestimated by a poor performance. Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard. They have a great team with tremendous power hitting ability.
Weather Report
The maximum and minimum temperatures in Dubai will be 34 and 24 degrees respectively. The humidity will be around 74 percent with no chances of precipitation.
Pitch Report
Dubai's surface provides a good balance between the ball and the bat. The fast bowlers will get assistance from the pitch in the first innings. The match will be played in the afternoon so dew will not have an effect, yet teams winning the toss can bowl first. The score of 160-170 will be a challenging one on this pitch.
South Africa's Probable Playing XI
Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
West Indies' Probable Playing XI
Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard(c), Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Akeal Hosein, Obed McCoy, Ravi Rampaul
Key Players
South Africa:
Quinton de Kock
Aiden Markram
West Indies:
Shimron Hetmyer
Nicholas Pooran
