RSA will always have an upperhand against WI

If not in crucial games like it happened in the quarter finals of the 1996 world cup at Karachi and in the ICC champions trophy 2004 at England, the West Indies are no match for the Proteas atleast in today's cricketing world irrespective of whether South Africa are hosting the game or not. Perhaps! a West Indies-South Africa match is yet to be played on a neutral venue unlike a match that is scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan. Now, yet again the West Indies have flattered in the 3^rd test match as well. West Indies have lost all their wickets even before the day ended.

A test match drawn by West Indies is a test match saved won by them which would be worth an investment. A score of 231 by the home team speaks for itself and the caliber of the West Indian team is once again proved. West Indies were lucky to have saved the 2^nd test held at Basseterre when the match ended in a draw and the West Indies were able to secure a rare 3 run lead against a team against which losing miserably has become a passion. Another amazement came to the West Indies when Shivnarine Chanderapaul was awarded the man of the match award for little bit of effort.

Why should anyone mention Johan Botha's name or Dale Steyn's name when there are the likes of some Dale Richards and Brendan Nash who have been trained to give the opposition bowlers the performance of their lives in addition to their lack of experience. The very same Johan Botha is hardly considered when South Africa is about to face say India or Australia even in front of their home crowd let alone touring such a nation. South Africa rarely play Bangladesh which has deprived them of a major record bank. If one doesn't believe me, you can ask Kumara Sangakkara regarding South Africa's tour to that country.

Pakistan can be considered to be an exception but not completely kept out of discussion. If not for Dwayne Bravo, no other member in the West Indian team managed a half century and some Suliemann Benn had to be the person to score a 20+ score despite coming in at number 9. If individual scores of the West Indian batsmen are considered, then the price should consist of contenders who would have scored 20 runs or more. Amazingly, most of them scored double digit scores including the number eleven batsman Brandon Bess who scored 11*. Let us see what Smith has in store for us.