Big-scoring West Indies await Proteas: ‘They’ll be a challenge, but we’ll be up for it,’ says Stubbs
· Citizen
It doesn’t get any easier for the Proteas in the T20 World Cup as they next face the daunting task of taming a West Indies team which, like the South Africans, recorded a bit of a statement win earlier this week.
A day after the Proteas beat hosts India in Ahmedabad by a whopping 76 runs in their first Super Eights game to announce themselves as a team to look out for, the West Indies piled on 256 runs in their 20 overs against Zimbabwe in Mumbai and then bowled out their opponents for 147 to win by 107 runs.
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‘Good batting side’
Shimron Hetmyer (85 off 34) and Rovman Powell (59 off 35) were the chief destroyers of Zimbabwe, but Sherfane Rutherford (31 off 13) also showed his immense hitting power, while the rest of the batting lineup, consisting of Shai Hope, Brandon King, Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder have shown at various times in the buildup to the tournament and during it that they will pose a big threat to the South Africans.
Rutherford, playing for the Pretoria Capitals in the SA20, will especially be well-known to the Proteas players, while Hope and Powell also featured in the competition.
Proteas middle-order star Tristan Stubbs says his team are fully aware of the danger the West Indies batters pose when they clash in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
“They’re a really good batting side,” said Stubbs on Tuesday when quizzed about their next assignment.
“We saw even during our series against them before the World Cup, they can post massive scores. Their batters are really in good form, and they’ll post big ones if the bowlers are not on it.”
But it’s not just the batters who’re on song at the moment, the West Indies bowlers, too, are in form. Their two left-arm spinners, Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie were particularly good against Zimbabwe with figures of 3/28 and 4/28 respectively. Hosein also featured in the SA20.
“They’ll bring a challenge,” said Stubbs.
“Their bowling attack is also doing well; they’re good at defending. Their spinners bowl really good lengths.”
‘Up for it’
In the three-match T20 series between the teams prior to the World Cup, South Africa won the series 2-1, but the West Indies pushed their hosts hard, with big scores of 173 in Paarl (20 overs), 221 in Centurion (20 overs) and 114 in Joburg (10 overs).
“We saw a lot of Rutherford in the SA20 and he and Hetmyer are in unbelievable form,” said Stubbs. “It started in that series at home. Our bowling attack will be in a lot of meetings to try come up with plans [for them].
“But, we’ll be ready, we’ll be up for it.”
South Africa and the West Indies are the only remaining unbeaten teams at the T20 World Cup.