Volatile Windies set to put Proteas' consistency to test

Jaipur, Nov 1 (UNI) Protea consistency will be up against the sheer unpredictability of the holders when South Africa take on the West Indies in the second semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy here tomorrow.

And it is this volatility in performance which, despite having beaten World Champions Australia and hosts India in the league stages, puts Brian Lara's mavericks a nose behind Graeme Smith's men.

The West Indies seem to have taken brinkmanship to the hilt in this tournament. After being bundled out for 93 in the qualifier against Sri Lanka, they bounced back to surprise title favourites Australia.

As if it was not enough, they pipped to the post hosts India for the sixth time in last eight outings, to book a berth in the semis.

But after the crest came the trough, when they lost to England after putting on board a healthy 272-run score. However, Graeme Smith knows that momentum is not a term one generally associates with the Islanders these days.

South Africa, on the other hand, have been gaining strength with every match. After being shocked by New Zealand in their opening tie, they defeated the Sri Lankans covincingly and then annihilated Pakistan in a must-win tie to storm into the last-four.

However, there seems to be a huge chink in their armour. Proteas' batting has been nothing but ordinary throughout the tournament and it has been left to the bowlers to bail them out.

Big guns like Smith and Jacques Kallis are misfiring upfront and Herschelle Gibbs would not have received a single penny from bookies six years back had he been performing like this.

On his much-talked about return to India, both for cricketing and extra-cricketing reasons, Gibbs has accumlated just 16 runs in three innings with two ducks! And on more than one occasions, as he has done in the past as well, it was left to Mark Boucher to steer the ship from troubled waters for the South Africans.

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