West Indies all-rounder Roston Chase says the Caribbean side will be pulling out all the stops to secure victory in their three-match Twenty20 (T20) series against South Africa starting on Thursday at Sabina Park in Kingston.

Both teams are using the series as part-preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in the Caribbean and the United States next month. The second and third matches are set to be played at the same venue on Saturday and Sunday. Chase, the West Indies vice-captain for the series, told the
Jamaica Observer that the hosts aim to put on a good show in front of their fans.

“I think it is going to be a tough series. South Africa is one of the top T20 teams in the world,” said Chase. “Having a look at the conditions today (Tuesday), the pitch was a little tricky, so if it plays anything like it did today at practice, then it could be an interesting series,” he said.

“For the past couple of series that we have been playing, the focus has been mainly on the Powerplay, particularly in terms of our bowling. I think that is where we fall down a little bit in terms of controlling the Powerplay and not letting the opposition get too many runs,” the 32-year-old Barbadian added.

The Darren Sammy-coached West Indies held their first training session at Sabina Park on Tuesday ahead of the highly anticipated series.

They are without several key players for the South Africa visit — regular captain Rovman Powell, batsman Shimron Hetmyer, and all-rounder Andre Russell are engaged in the final stages of the Indian Premier League, while batsman Nicholas Pooran played his last match in the competition on May 16.

Jamaican Brandon King is the West Indies stand-in captain for the South Africa series.

The South Africans are currently ranked fourth in the ICC T20 global rankings, two places above the two-time former T20 champions West Indies. India are ranked number one.

Chase, who has 11 T20 Internationals under his belt, said the team intends to maximise its potential in all areas of the game.

“Obviously, batting in the middle overs, and keep rotating the strike and the scoring rate up, are two main areas we will be looking to work on.

“Everyone knows that the West Indies have a lot of power in the backend, so that is where we tend to excel. It is just for us to work on these two areas and get them working well. I think once we get those two areas working well, we will be great,” Chase pointed out.

“This is a series leading up to the World Cup. We had the [training] camp in Antigua, and the guys have had some good preparations, so we are really looking forward to it.

“I think it gives us a chance to get our combinations and our tactics right leading up to the World Cup, so it will be a good run-out for us. The mood in the camp is right, and everyone is happy and raring to go for this series,” Chase stated.

Squad — Brandon King (captain), Roston Chase (vice-captain), Fabian Allen, Alick Athanaze, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh.