South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and decided to bowl first against West Indies on Monday (June 24) in a veritable knockout Super Eights, Group 2 clash of ICC T20 World Cup 2024, being played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, West Indies. (Match Blog | Streaming | Scorecard)
Explaining why he chose to field, Markram said: "Can't see the wicket get any worse. Hoping it gets slightly better this evening."
He added: "We're in a good space. Haven't put together a perfect game yet. The wind is really strong. Obviously the pitch has moved across. Generally a good batting wicket, gets slower as it goes on. Shamsi comes in for Baartman."
His opposing number Rovman Powell said: "I was 50-50 with the toss. Would've bowled as well. We're Caribbean guys playing in our home conditions. We should be able to adapt quickly. It's a team we have played often over the last couple of years. Kyle Mayers comes in for Johnson Charles."
The equation is pretty simple for both sides: win or crash out. That makes it a virtual quarter-final, as the victor will proceed straight to the last-four stage.
Playing XIs
West Indies: Shai Hope, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell (c), Roston Chase, Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Obed McCoy, Gudakesh Motie.
South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.
South Africa are unbeaten in the tournament thus far and have notched up six back-to-back wins, while West Indies lost to England in their Super 8s opener before thrashing the United States by nine wickets.
