The first test between West Indies and South Africa gets under way at St Lucia on Thursday and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the all important betting.
This is a two match test series with both games staged in St, Lucia and this will be followed by five T20's in Grenada. Let's begin with a look at the test match squads.
West Indies originally named a 17 man squad which will subsequently be cut to 13 and Kraigg Brathwaite is the skipper these days.
West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood (vc), Nkrumah Bonner, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican
Dean Elgar takes over as skipper of the Proteas who will select from the following squad.
Ssouth Africa: Dean Elgar (captain), Temba Bavuma (vice-captain), Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper), Sarel Erwee, Beuran Hendricks, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Keegan Peterson, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lizaad Williams, Prenelan Subrayen, Marco Jansen
Recent Form
West Indies
West Indies hosted Sri Lanka in March and both test matches finished drawn. In February they toured Bangladesh where they edged both test matches by margins of 3 wickets and 17 runs for a 2-0 series win. In December 2020 they were thrashed twice in a 2-0 series defeat in New Zealand and in July they performed with credit in a 2-1 series defeat in England.
South Africa
The Proteas most recent test match action came in Pakistan in January / February this year and they lost both matches in the series by margins of 7 wickets and 95 runs. Over the turn of the year SA completed wide margin wins in both test matches of a home series against Sri Lanka, their first test match action for almost a year.
Recent Head to Head
The most recent series came in South Africa in 2014/15 and the Proteas won 2-0 with 1 draw.
The most recent test series in West Indies came in 2010 and it produced another 2-0 win for South Africa with 1 draw.
Since 1992 the teams have met 28 times in test matches, South Africa have won 18 whilst 7 have been drawn and 3 have been won by West Indies.
The Venue Lords, Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
The most recent test match at this venue saw England beat West Indies by 232 runs in February 2019.
Overall 7 test matches have been staged here (2003-2019) and West Indies have won 1, lost 2 and 4 have been drawn,
Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia Weather Forecast
The Betting
West Indies are currently trading at around 18/10 to win the first test with the draw a 4/1 chance and South Africa can be backed at around 19/20
As far as the top 1st innings bat markets are concerned Dean Elgar is 3/1 for South Africa with Markram the same price and van der Dussen is 9/2. Kraigg Brathwaite is 33/10 to top score for Windies in their first knock.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
In the ICC rankings there is very little between the teams and it looks tough to call in my book. With that in mind I will look to the exotics for a betting interest.
Both sides will have plenty of pace options and if there is any turn in the wicket the overall picture might favour ball over bat. I could be totally wide of the mark on that front but at the odds available for no century in the match you don't need to go big.
Jason Holder's ability to contribute with bat and ball earns him an even more speculative Man of the Match vote.
Bets: Century scored in the match? No at 9/2
Man of the Match Jason Holder at 10/1
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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