AB de Villiers won the toss at SCG and chose the safety of batting first as opposed to testing his side’s significantly weaker suit: chasing. Since their win over India in Nagpur in the 2011 World Cup, South Africa have chased successfully scores over 270 only once. However, with fitness issues and an early loss to India, South Africa would have reckoned this was no time for experiments.
Neither JP Duminy nor Vernon Philander was fit to take field, which paved the way for Rilee Rossouw and Kyle Abbott to slot in. Wayne Parnell was dropped for Farhaan Behardien after his show against India proved to be South Africa’s worst analysis in World Cups.
This was a bigger match for West Indies, who might have got their campaign back on track but still couldn’t breathe easy thanks to their defeat to Ireland. They had won only one of their last 17 matches against South Africa, but in World Cups they do tend to run South Africa close: having won two and lost three against what has for long been a superior opposition on paper.
There was good news for West Indies. Chris Gayle was cleared fit to play although he has often said he is carrying injury. Sulieman Benn returned to fitness in the only change to the XI, replacing Nikita Miller.
South Africa 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Rilee Rossouw, 5 AB de Villiers (capt.), 6 David Miller, 7 Farhaan Behardien, 8 Kyle Abbott, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir.
West Indies 1 Dwayne Smith, 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Jonathan Carter, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 6 Lendl Simmons, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Andre Russell, 9 Jason Holder (capt.), 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 Sulieman Benn.
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