South Africa clash with West Indies in Dubai in the first of Tuesday's T20 World Cup matches and after both sides lost their opening match the pressure is well and truly on.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
South Africa
The Proteas lost their opening match of the tournament to Australia by a 5 wicket margin in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. After losing the toss South Africa were invited to bat first and they were quickly in trouble at 29/3 at the end of the 6 over power play. Aiden Markram top scored with 40 but no other batsmen made it to 20 and the innings closed on 118/9 with Markram hitting his sides only maximum of the innings.
Australia made hard work of the chase which was only completed with 2 balls to spare. Nortje (2/21) fared best of the Proteas bowlers.
This was how South Africa lined up on Saturday.
Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
With games against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and then England still to come in this group the Proteas odds to win the tournament have almost doubled to 22/1.
West Indies
West Indies came up against England in their opening game at this venue on Saturday. They also lost the toss and found themselves batting first and a dismal effort saw them bowled out for just 55 in 14.2 overs with Chris Gayle (13) the only player to reach double figures. Akeal Hosein (2/24) was the top West Indies bowler as England chalked up a 6 wicket win in 8.2 overs of their reply.
West Indies were a pre-tournament price of 7/1 to defend the T20 title and those odds have subsequently ballooned out to around 14/1.
This was how WI lined up against England.
Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Akeal Hosein, Obed McCoy, Ravi Rampaul
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Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 15 times with South Africa winning 9 to West Indies 6
The most recent meetings came in a 5 match series in West Indies in June / July this year, the series went to the wire and the Proteas won it 3-2
The Betting
South Africa are currently trading at around even money to win the game and West Indies can be backed at around 8/10
South Africa are 6/4 to hit the most 6's with West Indies 8/11 and a tie is 7/1
The highest first 6 overs total market has bith sides trading at 9/10
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
Whoever loses this game will really be struggling to stay in the tournament so it's a high pressure situation and as the betting suggests it looks a tricky result to call.
West Indies arguably have some advantage in that they remain in Dubai although they hardly landed a blow on England. The Proteas bowlers at least made a game of it against Australia and whilst the batting was poor my gut feel is they might be a safer bet.
Obed McCoy had a good series when these teams met earlier this year and he gets the vote to be the top WI wicket taker.
Bets: South Africa to win at even money
Top WI Bowler Obed McCoy, price to follow.
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
