Jason Holder's men walked into the tournament with the underdog tag despite their recent success in the Twenty20 format, but with the successful return of Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, West Indies, currently placed eighth in the ICC Ranking for ODI teams, will be in a positive frame of mind, with home conditions further boosting its confidence.
The first match was played at the same venue, which appeared to assist spinners heavily throughout. Narine, Aaron Phangiso, Imran Tahir and JP Duminy enjoyed bowling on the slow track, making it difficult for the batsmen to score easily. Narine's 6 for 27 earned him the Man of the Match award, and barring Pollard, who hit an unbeaten 67 at run-a-ball in the 189-run chase, and Rilee Rossouw (61 off 83) in South Africa’s innings, none of the batsmen got going in the low-scoring encounter.
Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard, making their international comebacks, combined to give West Indies a four-wicket win against South Africa in their triangular series opener in Providence. Narine snaffled a career-best 6 for 27 to ensure West Indies bowled South Africa out for 188, before Pollard struck an aggressive, unbeaten 67 to take his team to the target.
The last time South Africa were dismissed for a lower total against West Indies was after readmission, in April 1992. Then, the West Indies quicks blasted them out. This time, Narine had them in a spin with his variations. With the help of Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite and his captain Jason Holder, Narine reduced South Africa to 188, a total well below the first-innings average of 211 in Providence.
South Africa's struggles were indicative of the difficulties in scoring freely on a slow Providence pitch, with West Indies also finding run-making tough. But with not enough to defend, a drizzle in the air and too many extras, South Africa had it up against them. In the end, West Indies held their nerve to earn their third ODI victory over South Africa in the last decade.
Cracks in the CARICOM-led opposition to the West Indies Cricket Board have come out wide open with Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne categorically opposing the dissolution of the WICB. Browne is a member of the CARICOM's sub-committee on cricket.
Last November, the CARICOM panel, appointed by the Prime Ministerial Committee on the Governance of West Indies Cricket, had called the WICB "antiquated" and suggested it be replaced by an interim board. However, Browne has said such a move would only push West Indies cricket into further turmoil.
"I categorically reject the call for the dissolution of the West Indies Cricket Board, and I do so in my capacity as chairman of the committee governing West Indies cricket," Browne said in his address to mark the WICB's 90th year of recognition by the ICC. "I believe firmly that to dissolve the board would be to plunge West Indies cricket into further chaos and confusion."
Darren Sammy has called for West Indies' players and administrators to put their "egos" to one side and work for the betterment of the game in the region, as he prepares to return to competitive action for the first time since leading his side to victory in the World T20 at Eden Gardens last month. Sammy, who has arrived at Hampshire for this season's NatWest T20 Blast, will sit out tomorrow's clash with Middlesex at Uxbridge due to registration issues, and instead make his first outing of the campaign in next Thursday's home match against Kent. Either way, he will not be making a triumphant homecoming for West Indies during their Tri-Nations Series against South Africa and Australia, which gets underway in Providence on June 3, having been cut from the WICB's list of contracted players back in January. Sammy defends team-mate GayleDarren Sammy has defended Chris Gayle as an "entertainer" and says his outspoken nature makes him an easy target in the media. Last week, Gayle revived accusations of sexism with some lewd comments in an interview with The Times. However, Sammy played down the latest row. "Chris Gayle is the universe boss, a team mate of mine who I admire and respect. I just think people target Chris for no reason. "To me, Chris is one of our cricketing heroes. He's an entertainer, first, but a lot of people have jumped on his back.
My father, Khemraj, put up a net alongside our house, in Unity, a village near Georgetown, Guyana. Our back garden was right next to the local cricket club.
The West Indies selectors asked me to retire from one-day internationals after the 2011 World Cup and then dropped me when I wouldn't. My ODI record was good. Since 2006, I scored 3497 runs at an average of 53. Obviously I was upset about it.
Rotating the strike is one of the most important batting skills, particularly when things are tight, bowlers are on top and it's hard to pierce the field.
Brandon [son] and I put on 256 in a club game in Guyana, and we both scored centuries. Brandon was out there telling me what he would do and what he wouldn't do. I told him to calm down and play the situation, look for the best places to hit the ball.
