Johannesburg - The tension and anxiety can wait until February 15, Wednesday’s final match at Centurion between the West Indies and South Africa will be something of a valedictory affair, especially for the home side.
South Africa has wrapped up the series, played some superb cricket, especially with the bat, and for the most part they’re treating Sunday’s one-wicket defeat in Port Elizabeth as a blip.
Hashim Amla, who will captain the side on Wednesday in the absence of AB de Villiers - who’s been given a break - explained on Tuesday that though the players would love to step onto the plane next week with positive thoughts in mind, another defeat won’t unduly upset their World Cup plans.
Those plans have been drawn up a while ago and further refinement will take place in Australasia in the lead up to opening game on February 15 in Hamilton.
The players will have the next week off ahead of their departure for Australasia - some like Dale Steyn have already disappeared into the ‘bush’, mucking about with lions and such. The aim is to take their minds off cricket, ahead of a two-month block, where cricket will be all consuming.
Winning this series as quickly as they did has allowed room for them to play the fringe players, in a relatively relaxed atmosphere. Amla explained how it’s been the perfect balance for the players, starting in Australia last year.
“Australia was a very compact series. To have that intensity in Australia and New Zealand was certainly very valuable for us.
“Coming back here against West Indies, there was less intensity especially getting 3-0 up, which has given the team some space in terms of checking the squad out.
“So going to the World Cup we should be fresh in terms of getting into the serious competition. I think it was really good preparation; we didn’t do too well in a really tough series against Australia. We had a few hiccups, we’ve come back and done pretty well. The preparation has been really good in that there is no fear of burnout in terms of intensity and importance (of matches) before a big tournament,” he added.
Amla will be welcoming back his usual opening partner Quinton de Kock on Wednesday, after his recovery from an ankle injury went better than initially expected. De Kock has been akin to a caged animal these past few weeks, desperate to show that all is in order ahead of the trip Down Under. De Kock will take over from Morné van Wyk, with Rilee Rossouw likely to drop down to No4 in the order.
For De Kock, and ‘fringe’ players like Rossouw, Aaron Phangiso, Kyle Abbott and Wayne Parnell, these ‘dead rubber’ matches do hold more importance than a mere celebratory wave to the crowd afterwards.
In the series in Australia and New Zealand late last year, as well as this one against the West Indies, none of that quartet did anything to suggest they’ll break into the ‘first XI.’ Rossouw played well in making a century on that batting paradise at the Wanderers, but besides that innings of 128, he’s made just 11 runs in three other innings, while Parnell and Abbott, have lacked the dynamism to suggest they would push aside any of the established ‘starters.’
“For Rilee and Farhaan (Behardien) they want to get some more runs under their belt, which is the purpose of a game like today’s, it gives another opportunity for the fringe guys to get some confidence,” remarked Amla.
The West Indies players meanwhile are certainly a lot more confident after their win in Port Elizabeth. Darren Sammy, who was one of their stars at St. Georges Park, explained how that victory was just what the side needed heading into the World Cup.
“It’s been a long and difficult tour for us, but coming into this one-day series the purpose was to build into the World Cup, so the confidence from that win will help to build some momentum.
“What we need is consistency,” the affable all-rounder remarked.
* Late on Tuesday it was announced that Sunil Narine had pulled out of the West Indies World Cup squad.
South Africa (likely): Hashim Amla (captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, JP Duminy, Farhaan Behardien, Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott, Morné Morkel, Aaron Phangiso.
West Indies (likely): Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Jonathon Carter, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (captain), Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cotrell
Start:1.30pm
TV: SuperSport 2 and SABC 3
Radio: Radio 2000.
The Star