South Africa level series as George Linde, Tabraiz Shamsi squeeze West Indies

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South Africa opt against change in balance despite lack of sixth bowling option

West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first vs South Africa

Twenty-four hours have passed since West Indies beat South Africa convincingly in the opening T20I of this match series but little else has changed. The home side have again won the toss and put South Africa in and both teams have retained the same XI from the teams that played on Saturday.

West Indies had no reason to change their team after a dominant performance in the opener. They successfully chased a target of 161, getting there with five overs to spare having used six bowling options to limit South Africa on a decent deck.

South Africa, on the other hand, have opted not to adjust their team balance, although captain Temba Bavuma acknowledged that having just five bowling options did not serve them well in the first match. They have left out both seam-bowling allrounders, Wiaan Mulder and Andile Phehlukwayo, and stuck with George Linde as the spin-bowling allrounder and a three-seam, two-spin attack. That meant no room for Aiden Markram or Janneman Malan, with Reeza Hendricks continuing to open the batting alongside Quinton de Kock.

West Indies: 1 Andre Fletcher, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Fabian Allen, 9 Dwayne Bravo, 10 Obed McCoy, 11 Kevin Sinclair

South Africa: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Temba Bavuma (capt), 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 George Linde, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Lungi Ngidi, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Anrich Nortje

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent

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