PORT ELIZABETH–West Indies batsman Shiv Chanderpaul has expressed confidence in his team's ability to bounce back against South Africa in the second Test match at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth starting tomorrow.West Indies suffered their heaviest ever defeat in South Africa, when they were humiliated by an innings and 220 runs, 70 minutes before lunch on the penultimate day of the opening Test last Saturday.
The Windies will need a vastly improved batting performance after they failed to capitalise on starts in the first innings and were annihilated in 80 minutes in the second.Chanderpaul believes the Caribbean side has players who can step up."They're the No 1 team in the world, and to be there you have to have the best bowling attack in the world. It's been a learning experience for the youngsters, and I'm sure they'll come out of this stronger," said Chanderpaul."The guys we have here are the best in the Caribbean, that's the reason they're here. They've all scored runs in the past, scored a lot of hundreds in regional cricket. They all have talent and are bright stars for the future."
In an effort to boost their scoring the West Indies will be expecting much from Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels, who was the highest run-scorer on their last tour to South Africa.Additionally, West Indies have Devon Smith, who was had the third-best aggregate in last season's regional challenge and was leading the charts in this season's before embarking on the tour, Jermaine Blackwood, who was last season's most successful first-class batsman, and Kraigg Brathwaite, who already has a Test double hundred to his name."Hopefully this game we ...the batting lineup can get it right and put some decent scores on the board," said the experienced left-hander, preparing for a record 160th Test match."That's something we talked about, the start we got and hopefully a few guys can carry on".
He has good memories of this historic ground � where he scored a match-winning 104 back in 2007 � when the West Indies captured their only Test match victory on South African soil.The 40 year old cricketer is hoping that the opening defeat would have a positive effect on the players and says the Windies are even more determine to take the fight to the homeside."So we just have to put that game behind us and take it as a learning experience. It is not going to be easy but we are going to put up a better fight than we did in centurion," he said."It is a learning experience for the younger guys and I am sure coming out of this they would be much more stronger than they came into the tournament".First ball on Friday is 10:30 am (4:30 am Eastern Caribbean Time/3:30 am Jamaica Time). CMC
Factbox
First test Pretoria South Africa won by an innings and 220 runs
Second test Port Elizabeth Dec 26-30
Third test Cape Town Jan 2-6
SOUTH AFRICA
World ranking: First
Captain: Hashim Amla
Coach: Russell Domingo
Squad: Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Morne Morkel, Rilee Rossouw, Alviro Petersen, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Stiaan van Zyl
Tests in 2014
Feb Australia Pretoria Lost (281 runs)
Feb Australia Port Elizabeth Won (231 runs)
Mar Australia Cape Town Lost (245 runs)
Jun Sri Lanka Galle Won (153 runs)
Jul Sri Lanka Colombo Drew
Aug Zimbabwe Harare Won (nine wickets)
Dec West Indies Pretoria Won (innings and 220 runs)
WEST INDIES
World ranking: Eighth
Captain: Denesh Ramdin
Coach: Richie Richardson
Squad: Sulieman Benn, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sheldon Cottrell, Narsingh Deonarine, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Leon Johnson, Kenroy Peters, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton
Tests in 2014
Jun New Zealand Kingston Lost
(186 runs)
Jun New Zealand Port of Spain Won (10 wickets)
Jun New Zealand Bridgetown Lost (53 runs)
Sep Bangladesh Kingstown Won (10 wickets)
Sep Bangladesh Gros Islet Won (296 runs)
De South Africa Pretoria Lost (innings and 220 runs)
South Africa vs West Indies Tests
Matches 26
South Africa wins 17
West Indies wins 3
Draws 6
Previous West Indies tours of South Africa
1998-1999 Five South Africa 5-0
2003-2004 Four South Africa 3-0
2007-2008 Three South Africa 2-1