Feb 24, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) West Indies takes on South Africa in the ICC Cricket World Cup‘s  Group B match today at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. Winning the toss, South African skipper Graeme Smith took a brave decision and asked West Indies to bat first. West Indies who are still trying to revive their glorious past are tottering at 179 with the loss of five wickets as twelve more overs remain to end the first innings play.

Earlier, Graeme Smith made a brave move as he gave the new ball to the South African spinner Botha. The trick went in favor of the protease as the electrifying Chris Gayle was dismissed with three balls bowled in the first over. Darren Bravo consolidated the innings with an 82 ball 73, that was marked with some brilliant stroke play. Bravo and Smith  (36 runs of 58 balls) built up a healthy partnership till Smith was dismissed by the South African spinner Imran Tahir. With Botha doing the trick again for the South African’s by putting a stop to Bravo’s well knit knock, the West Indies never looked comfortable against the South African bowling attack.

West Indies going into the match with a pretty strong batting line up looked shaky against the protease who capitalized on Bravo’s dismissal. The veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul never seemed comfortable at the crease. All rounder Dwayne Bravo played a cameo but failed to score big as he ran himself out,thanks to a terrible misunderstanding between him and Chanderpaul. With few more overs left, the West Indies are still miles away of posting a competitive total. The South Africans on the other hand are trying to restrict the West Indies withing the 250 score mark.

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