Pollard looking for Windies batting intelligence against South Africa today
Published:Tuesday | June 29, 2021 | 12:11 AMLennox Aldred/Gleaner Writer -
With the T20 series all square at one game apiece, both the West Indies and South Africa have now had a decent look at each other's resources heading into today's third Twenty20 International game in Grenada starting at 1 p.m. Jamaica time.
With the bowlers from both sides showing great resolve and aptitude, the respective camps will be hoping that their batting can show a bit more spark, as the sides seek to take the ascendancy and go 2-1 up in the five-match series.
The teams’ top order, including Evin Lewis and Andre Fletcher of the West Indies, and Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks of South Africa, has been imperious in the power play, scoring well over 10 runs per over to set up the innings. However, the middle to latter overs have been a cause for concern for both camps.
West Indies captain Kieron Pollard says his middle order has to bat with more intelligence if the team is to post or chase down good totals, and he is expecting the conversations that the team has had around that matter, to bear fruit come today.
“There are certain guys trusted with the responsibility to do certain things and we trust that the guys can go out and execute that,” Pollard said. “We admit that we faltered in the second game from a batting perspective, but to me, it’s not the end of the world.”
That middle order, which consists of vice-captain Nicholas Pooran, Pollard and Andre Russell, is expected to remain the same, however, the West Indies could tinker at the top of the order and bring in Lendl Simmons in place of Fletcher in their squad rotation policy.
With that said, Pollard is keen on winning the contest to give his team the best chance of winning the series.
“The ultimate goal for us is winning,” he said. “At this point, I am thinking about winning, and we are trying to put the best team that we think can go out on the park and get the results for us.”
South Africa may also alter their team plans slightly to bolster their chances by opting for an all-rounder to add some steel to their impressive bowling unit.
That means batting off-spinner Aiden Markram could slide into the middle-order in place of Heinrich Klaasen, while right-arm fast bowler Sisanda Magala could replace Lungi Ngidi, who has taken some stick in the previous two games.