West Indies seek World Cup momentum !

                 

Play time is over and it's down to business as both teams begin their final journey on the road to the Cup.

For South Africa, it is the culmination of something which began six months ago when they

started intense preparation for the tournament. They hoped by the time this series came

around, they would be able to field their full World Cup squad to give them a dummy run -

or five - ahead of the event.

A month before the World Cup may not be the ideal time to begin your captaincy career

but that is what Jason Holder has to do. 

He takes over from Bravo at a difficult, but crucial, time for West Indies cricket.

The isolation of some of their highest-profile players means the team will have to rely on

more than just big reputations but it also affords them the opportunity to band together

before a major tournament.

How Holder, who is just 23, oversees that process overseas 

will be closely watched as West Indies plan for the future !!

"I want to be quite positive in what I do.

It's about gaining the confidence and belief in my players.

First on my agenda is trying to get the players on my side."


Winning over his own men is what Jason Holder will think about

before turning his attention to the opposition. 

Chris Gayle took part in training and should return to the top of the order after being rested

from Wednesday's T20 with a long-standing back issue

If he is unable to play, Lendl Simmons will have to fill in.

An extra batsman may have to be found in Leon Johnson but West Indies should have a

decent pack available to them with Jerome Taylor and Sulieman Benn both back.

Their most recent ODI outing was the abandoned tour of India :

and the aftermath of that walkout is being strongly felt. There is a new captain in place

and a significant senior core missing but for an outfit used to operating on the fringes of crisis,

that may not be so bad after all. 

West Indies gave an international debut to 27-year-old allrounder Jonathan Carter

They have also added Leon Johnson to the line-up at # 3 ! 

welcome back to both ! 

West Indies

1 Dwayne Smith Smith, 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Leon Johnson, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Denesh Ramdin,

6 Jonathan Carter, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Andre Russell, 9 Jason Holder (capt), 10 Sulieman Benn,

11 Jerome Taylor