Uphill task for Windies

ROSEAU, Dominica, (CMC):

West Indies face the difficult task of winning the third one-day international against South Africa today at Windsor Park, and preventing the visitors from taking an unbeatable lead in the series.

West Indies trail 0-2 in the five-match series, following a 66-run defeat under the Duckworth-Lewis Method in the rain-marred opening match last Saturday at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua, where they also lost the second match by 17 runs last Monday.

"We have done some good talking since the last game, and identified some things that we have to do a lot better to beat this strong South African team," said West Indies coach Ottis Gibson.

"Our problem has been executing on the day. We have matched them some times in key areas, but then we have let ourselves down a little bit, and this is the nature of where we are right now."

Injuries to Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kemar Roach, and Nikita Miller will make the job more challenging against the well-drilled South Africans.

Hamstring tear

Sarwan has sustained a grade one hamstring tear that will keep him out for the next two to three weeks, about the same time that a side strain will sideline left-arm spinner Miller, and a troublesome ankle will force fast bowler Roach to rest.

Darren Bravo, the younger brother of West Indies vice-captain and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, and all-rounder Dave Bernard Jr have been added to the 13-member squad.

West Indies major problem, however, continues to be their batting, and Bravo, the A-Team's leading batsman on the tour of Bangladesh, and Bernard can help in this regard.

A significant score from West Indies captain Chris Gayle would be a huge boost. He has failed to score a hundred since his 135 against New Zealand in January last year. His best has been 88 against Zimbabwe in March.

Gibson has blamed poor thinking for the batting meltdowns in the previous ODIs, which eventually resulted in West Indies defeats.

In the first ODI, West Indies were dismissed for 215, chasing 282 for victory, and in the second match were bowled out for 283, in pursuit of 301.

"We've created winning opportunities," said Gibson, as he argued a case for a full-time batting coach as part of his future staff complement.

"Before you win, you have to create the opportunity to win. Those opportunities have not been strong enough. We have not thought them through well enough."

He added: "Talent-wise we're not far behind South Africa. Thinking-wise, we're showing that we're very far behind."

Another challenge for West Indies is to neutralise the Proteas' batsmen, who have plundered their bowlers with ease, especially Hashim Amla.

He is the leading scorer in the series with 194 runs, including a scintillating 102 off 109 balls in the first ODI, and 92 in the second game.

"Early wickets in any form of the game are key, but we have not been able to get any in this series," said Gibson.

"Their top-four has performed well, but we have identified getting early wickets as something we want to achieve [on Friday]. It is going to be key for us when we bowl, and try to expose that middle order."

The Proteas have gone from zero in the Twenty20 World Cup to the brink of an ODI series win over the West Indies. They have a simple task - win - and seal a series victory.

"Four games ago, we were all in a very disappointing place trying to sort ourselves out, and taking the first steps forward to regain the confidence of the public and rebuild our confidence as a team," said their captain Graeme Smith.

"I think we have pretty much performed well, and covered our bases. We can still improve a lot, but it is a nice position [2-0 up] to be in."

He said: "We have pointed out a few areas that we need to improve, and Power Play 3 is obviously one of them. We also need to work on finishing well with bat and ball.

"The batters have done a good job so far, especially the top four or five. They have laid a good platform. I thought we adapted very well to the conditions, which was important."

West Indies have won only one of their previous 14 ODIs against South Africa on home soil, another factor that makes their chances look slim.

SQUADS:

West Indies (from): Chris Gayle (captain), Dwayne Bravo (vice captain), Sulieman Benn, Dave Bernard Jr, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Dale Richards, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor

South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (captain), Jacques Kallis (vice captain), Hashim Amla, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, Abraham de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Alviro Pietersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe.