West Indies opt to bowl vs South Africa
With the series already won by the hosts, West Indies rang in the changes starting from the captain. Roston Chase flipped the coin in place of Rovman Powell, and after Aiden Makram called incorrectly, opted to chase on a surface he expected to be slow upfront.
West Indies brought back senior seamer Obed McCoy in place of Shamar Joseph, and opted for an extra spinner in Fabian Allen on a fresh surface. Allen’s inclusion meant West Indies opted to go in a batter short, with Sherfane Rutherford sitting out for Shimron Hetmyer, and everyone from Romario Shepherd moving up a place.
South Africa also emptied the bench for the final fixture, and handed a debut to middle-order batter Jason Smith in place of Rassie van der Dussen. Wiaan Mulder got his first outing of the T20I series, with Donovan Ferreira missing out. Patrick Kruger kept his place as the second seam-bowling allrounder, as did 18-year old Kwena Maphaka, who has played every game in this series.
The rain that delayed the start of play by an hour appeared to have cleared by the toss, with blue skies and sunshine over the Brian Lara Academy for the finale. No overs were lost, with play due to start at 4pm local time, an hour after the scheduled time.
West Indies: 1 Shai Hope, 2 Alick Athanaze, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Roston Chase (capt), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Romario Shepherd, 7 Matthew Forde, 8 Akeal Hosein, 9 Fabian Allen, 10 Gudakesh Motie, 11 Obed McCoy
South Africa: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Aiden Markram (capt), 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Jason Smith, 6 Wiaan Mulder, 7 Patrick Kruger, 8 Bjorn Fortuin, 9 Ottneil Baartman, 10 Lizaad Williams, 11 Kwena Maphaka
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket
Source: ESPN Crickinfo
