Last Updated on 3 months by Charbel Coorey

WI vs SA 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction Possible Playing 11 Pitch Report | WI vs SA 1st T20 Dream11 Prediction Today | West Indies vs South Africa 1st T20 Key Players | Grenada Pitch Report

After South Africa’s great victory in the two-match series in the longest form of cricket, we are here for the shortest form of international cricket that is T20Is. The respective teams will play a five-match T20I series, all at Grenada, which provides some key things to look forward to. Indeed, this promises to be an exciting battle.

The hosts, West Indies are the one of the most dominant sides in world cricket as far as T20 cricket is concerned. And the squad they have selected for the series looks pretty good and dominant. The defending T20 World Cup champions will be looking forward to continuing their T20I dominance all over the globe, as the 2021 T20 World Cup is fast approaching.

But their opponents here look promising too. South Africa would love to continue their winning streak on this tour. Their squad is strong and confident as well, as they will have a close eye upon how their players perform ahead of T20 WC 2021. This five-match T20I series is going to be an exciting prospect for both sides. 

Match Details

• Match: West Indies vs South Africa T20I series 2021, 1st T20I.
• Date and time: June 26, 02.00 PM (local time) , 11.30 PM IST
• Venue: National Cricket Stadium, St George’s, Grenada. 

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

West Indies: 

• Chris Gayle, the Universe Boss, is all set to launch the ball over the roofs of the stadium. I think there is no need to describe his abilities and what he can do. Just going through his stats in WI vs SA head to head, he is the top run scorer with 307 runs in 7 innings at brilliant avg of 43.85 and strike rate 195.54. He also has a century on his name in the clash and has hit 49 boundaries (25 6’s and 24 4’s) till now. SA bowlers will have to make sure that they send him back early, otherwise if Gayle storm arrives at Grenada then no one can save them.
• Another Caribbean hitter Lendl Simmons can be the cause of worry for SA team. He is well-known for giving good starts to his team. And if he remains at the crease till 10th over, no one can stop him there. He has only played a couple of matches against South Africa but he has scored 126 runs at 63.00 and has a massive Strike rate of 155.55. He will surely play an important role throughout the series.
• Kieron Pollard: Caribbean limited overs cricket captain is another threat for the opposition. The inform hard hitter has not been that effective against South Africa till now but he will surely look at taking bowlers on the roll and make the record better. Pollard hit 6 sixes in an over against Sri Lanka in the month of March and also had a good IPL season, producing another amazing knock for MI. So he is confident and will look forward to start the Caribbean summer in a happy manner.
• Another Caribbean all rounder and massive hitter, Andre Russell, will make his comeback to international cricket. South African bowlers surely know how dangerous Andre could be if not sent to the pavilion early. He can take the game away from opposition at any moment smashing the white sphere out of the ground with his power hitting. A man with his career strike rate of 151.26 in Intl cricket is going to be an important part of the series. 
• DJ Bravo: One more experienced all rounder from West Indies is well known for his death bowling and power hitting. DJ Bravo will be the player to watch out for WI in all the T20Is they play ahead of T20 WC. He has the experience of playing 10 matches against SA and will be aiming to improve on his record of five wickets.

South Africa:

• Rassie van der Dussen : 32-year old RVDD is ranked 6th in the ICC T20I rankings. The top order batsman has been impressive since his debut and has played some brilliant match winning knocks. However he is yet to play T20I against West Indies, so can he use the fact that the Caribbean bowlers have not bowled to him to his benefit?
• Quinton de Kock:  The wicketkeeper batsman QDK was brilliant in both the Tests he played against WI recently. Now, he will be looking at his favourite form of the game. His confidence level will be very high throughout the series now. Quinton loves the extra pace from bowlers and he is very well known for strong hitting against them. He has played just a single game against WI but scored brilliant 47 in that game. He will also help his skipper in taking important decisions with his captainship experience.
• David Miller: In the absence of Faf, Miller will have to step up and take care of middle order batting. The left-hander has been consistent with his teams over the years. If he gets set at the crease, no doubt he will be the biggest threat for the Caribbean bowlers. Miller has played 4 matches against WI and scored 105 runs at strike rate of 137 and he will surely look upon to increase this number in this series.
• Kagiso Rabada: A fine pacer who can destroy the opposition and change the game within an over. He has played only a couple of matches against WI but he has been hit by those power hitters for 76 runs in 7.4 overs and has taken just a single wicket. He surely needs to step and guide his bowling unit by leading from the front against the likes of Gayle, Russell, Pollard etc. 
• Tabraiz Shamsi is the number one-ranked T20I bowler. He has taken 10 wickets in seven matches in 2021, at a fine average of 17.20 and economy rate of 6.37.

Stats and Facts

• Head to Head: Matches 10, West Indies 4, South Africa 6.
• Last 5 matches : West Indies 3, South Africa 2.
• Only 1 T20I played at Grenada till now in which the hosts WI lost to Ireland. 
• The respective teams haven’t played any T20I against each other after ICC T20 WC 2016. So this is the first time that they will meet to play a T20I match/series since then.

Squads 

West Indies : Kieron Pollard (C), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder,Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jnr

South Africa : Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), George Linde, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Wiaan Mulder, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Possible Playing 11

West Indies have named their 13-man squad for the first two T20Is. The notable absentees include Shimron Hetmyer and Sheldon Cottrell.

West Indies: 1. Lendl Simmons, 2. Evin Lewis, 3. Chris Gayle, 4. Nicholas Pooran (wk), 5. Kieron Pollard (c), 6. Andre Russell, 7. Jason Holder, 8. Fabian Allen, 9. Dwayne Bravo, 10. Obed McCoy, 11. Fidel Edwards

South Africa: 1. Quinton de Kock (wk), 2. Janneman Malan/Aiden Markram, 3. Temba Bavuma (c), 4. Rassie van der Dussen, 5. David Miller, 6. George Linde, 7. Wiaan Mulder, 8. Lizaad Williams, 9. Kagiso Rabada, 10. Tabraiz Shamsi, 11. Anrich Nortje

National Cricket Stadium, St George’s, Grenada Pitch report and Weather report

It is a pretty decent pitch to bat on, if you get yourself in. Ideally looking at the pitch, one would choose batting first but due to weather he may go to the opposite. Since it is day time, it will be windy with some showers as well. Game might be disturbed in some intervals but hopefully we will get the result.

Dream11 Prediction

Option 1: 

Option 2: 

Match Prediction

West Indies’ incredible batting depth makes them the favourites. Windies to win.

Written by Aditya Narsale. Follow Aditya on Twitter today.