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Cape Town - The ongoing Tri Series between South Africa, Australia and the West Indies may not be providing the most glamorous cricket ever seen, but it has been tightly contested.
Close games, some of them incredibly low scoring, translated into a congested mini-log as the three sides looked to book their spot in Sunday's final.
Of course, Australia have already ensured that they will play that match and now South Africa and the West Indies meet on Friday in what is effectively a semi-final in Barbados.
It has been a tournament in which spin bowling has dominated - 49 of the 99 wickets (runouts excluded) so far have come from the spinners.
But the feeling is that the pace bowlers will have the major say at the Kensington Oval.
It was to be the venue for last week's washed-out affair between the Proteas and Australia, and bowling coach Charl Langeveldt believes that his pace attack will play a big part.
"There’s a bit of grass on the wicket so it actually suits our bowlers in that sense," he said.
"It takes away the reverse swing because the outfield is quite lush so it’s not as abrasive. The square is quite green so it’s not going to reverse.
"It’s going to be purely based on the new ball."
The Proteas do have options.
Morne Morkel was named in the side for the 'no-result' against the Aussies and looks good to retain his place, but Langeveldt is excited by the balance his seamers give the bowling attack.
"Wayne (Parnell) has improved a lot, KG (Rabada) has been up and down and we have Morne (Morkel) coming back as well so it’s a good headache for the selectors," he said.
"I’m not sure where we’re going to go but we’re
preparing that all the seamers are going to play … we’ll leave that to the
selectors.
"Throw in Chris Morris there with that extra bounce ... all four bowlers are different. Wayne is a bit fuller; he’s a skiddy bowler.
"Morne Morkel hits the deck and then you’ve got KG with the raw pace. He’s always an asset in Barbados … this is their Wanderers with the extra bounce. I think we’ve got a good combination. It gives you versatility in all aspects."
The match will start at 19:00 (SA time) and defeat will see the Proteas eliminated.
