Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent
South Africa bat first in decider, play Mulder, Fortuin; Akeal Hosein debuts for West Indies
Written by I Dig Sports
Published in
Cricket
Saturday, 03 July 2021 11:07
South Africa chose to bat vs West Indies
West Indies have been asked to chase a series win - literally - after Temba Bavuma decided South Africa will defend in the decider. Blue skies greeted the teams on Saturday afternoon after tropical storm Elsa battered Grenada the day before the match, and with little rain predicted, the finale should take place in full.
South Africa made two changes to the team that lost on Thursday and drastically altered their team balance, including a seam-bowling allrounder for the first time in the series and an attack of three spinners. Reeza Hendricks was left out of the XI, which meant Bavuma opening with Quinton de Kock, with the rest of the top five all moving a place up in the batting order and Wiaan Mulder slotting in at No.6.
With Anrich Nortje being rested as a precaution after he was hit on the knee on Thursday, South Africa were forced to make a change to the bowling and it initially appeared as if they wanted to include Lizaad Williams. But his name was crossed off the team sheet and left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin was pressed into service. Tabraiz Shamsi and George Linde remain the other two spinners, giving South Africa a three-seam-and-three-spin attack, including the option of Aiden Markram as a part-timer.
West Indies made just one change to their line-up, also through injury. Fabian Allen, who hurt his shoulder in the previous match, was not available for selection, which meant a debut for Akeal Hosein. Jason Holder remained on the bench with Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmeyer both included.
West Indies: 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Shimron Hetmeyer, 5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Akeal Hosein 10 Fidel Edwards 11 Obed McCoy
South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma (capt), 3 Aiden Markram 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 David Miller, 6 Wiaan Mulder 7 George Linde, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Lungi Ngidi, 10 Bjorn Fortuin, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi