West Indies vs South Africa Preview & Prediction | 1st Test
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On back of being swept 3-0 by England, West Indies now return home for two Tests against South Africa, who are competing in their first Test match since February of this year.
DATE/TIME: Wednesday 7th August, 2024 - UK – 3:30pm / INDIA – 8.00pm / US EST – 10:00am / US PST – 7:00am
VENUE: Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
WEATHER: Days 1, 3, 4 and 5 could see thundery showers across play, but conditions are expected to be extremely hot throughout the Test with plenty of sunny spells and light winds.
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – TNT Sports / INDIA – TBA / US – Willow TV
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – discovery+ / INDIA – Fancode / US – Willow TV
WEST INDIES FORM: POSITIVES TO TAKE DESPITE ENGLISH HAMMERING
West Indies were comprehensively beaten in England across all three Tests and whilst they had moments which could have potentially led to a different result had they come up clutch when required, ultimately the Windies wilted when the pressure was on. Back on home territory though, Kraigg Brathwaite's side will hope for better fortunes.
LAST FIVE: LLLWL
SOUTH AFRICA FORM: WILL LACK OF TEST CRICKET TAKE ITS TOLL
The biggest worry for South Africa has to be the fact that they very rarely play red ball cricket these days, to the obvious frustration of their players. A 2-0 series defeat against New Zealand which ended six months ago is testament to this and even that was played with essentially a second-string South African squad due to the SA20.
LAST FIVE: LLLWW
WEST INDIES BETTING ANALYSIS
The biggest positive about the West Indies in England was their bowling attack, which did show genuine pace and promise. Jayden Seales in particular warrants substantial attention, the right-arm fast bowler picking up 13 wickets in that series and is well worth backing to carry that form home and into this first test. Look at backing Seales to finish as the Windies' top bowler across the match.
SOUTH AFRICA BETTING ANALYSIS
The big team news from a South African perspective is that Tristan Stubbs will be batting at number three with the 23-year-old expected to be given license to go out and take the fight to West Indies' bowling attack by batting aggressively and looking to score fast. To have been endorsed so strongly in the media by head coach Shukri Conrad must have filled him with confidence and Stubbs could have a big part to play at the Queen's Park Oval. With that in mind, consider backing him to score over 61.5 match runs over the course of this Test.
WEST INDIES VS SOUTH AFRICA EXPERT PREDICTION
It's hard to tell what sort of South Africa side we'll see in the first Test with it being so long since a number of these players were in red ball action. West Indies on the other hand may be coming off a Test series, but after losing emphatically, that could have an adverse effect of them from a confidence perspective, especially when considering how poor they were with the bat.
One player though who has been in consistent red ball action for the Proteas over the past few months has been David Bedingham, scoring regular runs for Durham in County Cricket. As it stands, Bedingham is the highest run scorer in the county championship, having racked up 926 runs in 14 innings at an average of 71.23, including five centuries. Bedingham is a world class batter and if anyone in this South Africa team is capable of a significant knock, it's him. Therefore, back a Bedingham hundred regardless of the final result.
WEST INDIES VS SOUTH AFRICA TIP: DAVID BEDINGHAM TO SCORE A HUNDRED IN THE MATCH
