South Africa vs. West Indies: Key Players, Prediction and Preview for 5th ODI
South Africa and West Indies are set to conclude their one-day international series with their fifth and final match on Wednesday.
South Africa won the first three matches with consummate ease, but West Indies fought to a famous victory on Sunday to revive interest in the one-sided series.
The Windies ended a nine-year wait for their win over South Africa in one-day cricket. Batting at No. 8, Andre Russell managed a phenomenal 64 runs from 40 balls, the fourth-highest score for any player batting at No. 8 or below.
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The final ODI is now a more exciting prospect as we can now at least entertain the possibility that the match will actually be a contest.
Here's all the information you need to watch the final ODI and a look at what we can expect to see.
Date: Wednesday, 28 January
Time: 11 a.m. (GMT), 6 a.m. (ET)
TV Info: Sky Sports 2 HD (UK), Willow TV (US)
Key Players for West Indies
After his match-winning performance in the fourth ODI, all eyes will be on Russell to see if the 26-year-old can conjure up another moment of magic.
When the all-rounder arrived at the crease, the Windies needed 97 from 83 balls to chase down their target of 263. Russell hit five fours and as many sixes, reaching the target with nine balls to spare.
The one-wicket victory may not have been a comprehensive victory, but it was a victory nonetheless. This can prove a huge lift to West Indies, who will take heart from such a performance from a batsman that far down the pecking order.
Knowing that they have strength as far down as that will ease the pressure on the opening batsmen.
This is especially important as opening batsman Chris Gayle is enduring something of a dry spell at the crease. Since 2013, Gayle has maintained a batting average of just 19.5, the lowest of any batsman (Nos. 1 to 7) who has played at least 20 innings.
The Windies will also be buoyed in this regard by the performances of Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy. Their partnership of 93 was crucial to the victory, taking the team from 73-5 to 166.
On the back of these batting performances, West Indies might be able to make more of an impact in the final ODI. Confidence is one of the most powerful forces in sport, so West Indies can be a new-look side on Wednesday.
Jason Holder, for whom the win was his first as ODI captain, believes his team can draw on the win.
According to Alex Winter of ESPN Cricinfo, Holder said: "It was good to get across the line; it does a lot for our morale. It's been a tough tour so far. We've lost the series but its about salvaging some pride. I was pleased to see the way the guys came out and won this game today."
Holder will also be a key figure in the final match.
If he can repeat his four-wicket haul from the fourth ODI, he can lead by example and inspire his team.
More importantly, it would be a significant factor in nullifying the incredible threat of South Africa's batsmen, who have largely dominated proceedings so far.
Key Players for South Africa
The Proteas performed outstandingly well in the first three ODIs, so they will have plenty to draw upon as they look to bounce back from the surprise defeat.
South Africa's ODI captain AB de Villiers has been in typically rampant form in the ODI series, so it's lucky for West Indies that he'll be rested for the final match, per Firdose Moonda of ESPN Cricinfo. His ability to pick and vary his shots with seeming impunity was probably the biggest threat West Indies had to the Windies' hopes of another upset.
South Africa ran away with the second match, with De Villiers breaking a world record in the process. The 30-year-old hit the quickest ODI century ever, off just 31 balls. De Villiers also smashed 16 sixes, the most by a South African and the joint-highest number of sixes overall in an ODI innings.
Rilee Rossouw, David Miller and Hashim Amla have all racked up centuries themselves over the series, so the batting threat doesn't end with the captain though.
Amla's 66 in the opening international saw him become the fastest batsman to reach 5,000 ODI runs, having taken just 101 innings to do so. Amla then took a career-best 153 not-out in the second match (shown below) and an unbeaten 61 in the third, so he's at the top of his game right now.
If Holder and Co. aren't at the top of their game, the Proteas could make an insurmountable lead.
It's not just in batting where South Africa hold all the cards either.
Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir bowled incredibly in the first three matches, making 22 wickets between them.
It's telling that West Indies' win came in the fourth when none of them featured. If they're restored to the side, Russell and his team-mates will have to play far more defensively. If the Windies' batsmen aren't able to dictate the play, they simply won't be able to score enough runs to outmatch South Africa.
Because of South Africa missing these front-line players, De Villiers believes the defeat in the last match is no cause for concern. Per Firdose Moonda, he said: "It's not a wake-up call. We were wide awake the whole way through there. We weren't complacent or anything like that."
Unfortunately for West Indies, he's probably right.
The long-awaited win will give the Windies a much-needed confidence boost after some demoralising defeats, and this will serve them well in the final ODI.
However, even with multiple key players missing, they could only manage a narrow victory over the Proteas. With the likes of Amla set to return (h/t Firdose Moonda), this will prove too much for West Indies, who would need a performance even more heroic than the last.
A closer match it will likely be, but with the World Cup just weeks away, South Africa will be determined to bounce back from their defeat.
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