It's do-or-die for both West Indies and South Africa as they face each other in a must-win encounter at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. This literally is the eliminator as whoever wins will set up a final with Australia and whoever loses will be knocked out.
West Indies should have got out of their disappointment mode after their last game against Australia. Marlon Samuels' century went in vain as Australians were rampant and they chased down a 280-plus total with consummate ease.
Samuels and Sunil Narine have been at their sublime best in this series. West Indies will be counting on these two star players to come out all-guns-blazing against the Proteas on Friday in Bridgetown.
But West Indies have a major issue to deal with. Their captain Jason Holder has been nursing a hamstring injury and will be undergoing a fitness test ahead of the game. The condition of the injury is such that it is highly unlikely that Holder is going to lead the charge against South Africa on Friday. In that case, Denesh Ramdin will be leading the side against the Proteas.
South Africa, meanwhile, are placed higher on the points table than West Indies by virtue of couple of wins with bonus points against West Indies and Australia, respectively. However, AB de Villiers and co. cannot afford to lose the match if they want to take on Australia in the tri-series final.
Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir have been in outstanding form in this series. They do have the abilities to make their opponents look ordinary and, in fact, they have done that during this ongoing tri-series on a couple of occasions.
If South Africa batsmen become too hot to handle against West Indies, then the hosts will have a serious problem. They will have to wreck the top order to put pressure on that middle-order of South Africa.
Expected Playing XI:
West Indies: Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin (C & wk), Kieron Pollard, Jonathan Carter, Carlos Brathwaite, Sulieman Benn, Sunil Narine, Shannon Gabriel.
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (C), JP Duminy, Farhaan Behardien, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir.
Where to Watch Live
The West Indies vs South Africa 9th ODI of the tri-series is scheduled for a 1 p.m. local time (6 p.m. BST, 10.30 p.m. IST) start. Below are the live streaming and TV options.
India: TV: Ten 3 and Ten 1 HD. Live Streaming: Ten Sports live.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel and Cricket Australia Live.
South Africa: TV: SuperSport 2. Live Streaming: SuperSport live video.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 1. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
