Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

( L - R )Shivnarine Chanderpaul, South Africa's Dale Steyn, Chris Gayle file photos

The West Indies take on South Africa in the first of their three-match Test series in the windy city of Port Elizabeth starting this morning, and the odds, on a draw much more on a victory, in a contest which promises to be between Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the Windies and all of South Africa, are heavily stacked against them.

In 19 matches, the West Indies have won two to South Africa's 12, and with the two victories and four of the five draws coming in the West Indies, their record in South Africa, as it has been everywhere away from home, is not only disappointing, it is also dismal and embarrassing.

In eight matches in two series in the land of the Proteas, the record reads: nine matches, South Africa five out of five on the first occasion, South Africa three out of four on the second occasion with one draw, and that certainly is not encouraging for the West Indies.

Entering the lion's den

When one remembers the West Indies record in recent times, and especially so their record away from home; when one remembers South Africa's performance at home and away from home; when one looks at the personnel on the two teams; and when one looks at the International Cricket Council rankings and sees South Africa in the number two spot and the West Indies at number eight out of nine, the truth, or as close to the truth as possible, is that the Windies are entering the lion's den.

A comparison of the players on both teams shows South Africa way ahead, and all things considered, including the home advantage, one reason why they are hot favourites to win the match and the series - and comfortably at that.

Unlike the West Indies who have only three batsmen - Chanderpaul with 46.63, Gayle, the doubtful captain Gayle, with 38.28, and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo with 34.24 - with a batting average of 30 or better, South Africa, with captain Graeme Smith on 46. 85, Herschelle Gibbs on 42.63, Ashwell Prince on 41.54, Mark Boucher on 30.09, Hashim Amla on 33.50, A.B. deVilliers on 35.52, and with Jacques Kallis, the man who chipped to 712 runs with an average of 178.00 the last time the Windies were in South Africa, have as many as seven.

On top of that Chanderpaul's total is 16 and even though Gayle has seven, with Daren Ganga on only three after 45 matches, Bravo on two after 23, Devon Smith on one after 20, and Marlon Samuels on one after 24, the West Indies batsmen have scored only one century more than Kallis who has an impressive 29 from 111 Test matches.

Add to that, Smith's 18, Gibbs' 14, Prince's six, Boucher's four, deVilliers' three from 32, Amla's three from 17, and South Africa's batting, certainly in comparison to that of the West Indies, is really impressive.

And so too, and definitely so in comparison to that of the West Indies, is South Africa's bowling.

Figures

While Pedro Collins' figures read 106 wickets at an average of 34.63 from 32 matches, Jerome Taylor's 35 wickets at an average of 39.68 from 13 matches, Fidel Edwards' 72 at 43.01 from 27, Daren Powell's 56 at 43.62 from 22, Bravo's 45 at 43.37 from 23, and Rawl Lewis' dismal one wicket at an average of 388.00, with Andre Nel boasting figures of 106 wickets at an average of 31.83 in 31 matches, Makhaya Ntini 319 at 27.67 from 79, Shaun Pollock 416 at 23.19 from 107, all-rounder Kallis 221 at 31.28, and new boy David Stern 71 at 24.38 from 15, South Africa's attack, supported by Paul Harris, whose left-arm spin has earned him 24 wickets at an average of 24.50 from eight matches, is awesome.

Can the West Indies lift themselves and surprise the world by defeating, or more realistically drawing the first Test and probably the series?

Frightening pace required

Looking at the recent past performances, looking at both sides, and, especially so, looking at Steyn, it does not appear possible. For that to happen, Smith, Ganga, Morton and Samuels will have to bat better, much better, than, but for one or two occasions, they have ever batted before. The left-handers, Gayle, if he plays, and Chanderpaul, will have to be at their best and particularly so against Steyn, who gets the ball to swing at great pace into left-handed batsmen, and Taylor and Edwards, supported by Powell, Bravo and Collins, if he plays, will have to produce some frightening pace.

More than likely, however, short of bowling the quality of Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh at Kensington Oval in 1992 when, with South Africa on 122 for two at the start of the fifth day and needing 78 to win the first Test match between the two teams, the West Indies grabbed eight wickets for 26 runs; short of some brilliant batting that will bring back memories of Gayle's 78-ball century in Cape Town in 2003/04, followed by his 77 and 107 in Centurion, it will take a miracle for this West Indies team to beat or even draw with this South African team.