FOR ONE last time, the West Indies just could not get it right.

Needing to win to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Cup they are hosting for the first time, the hosts were blown away yesterday by 67 runs against South Africa at the Grenada National Stadium.

South Africa had much to prove, having just lost its number one ranking among one-day teams and worse, were humiliated at the weekend by lowly Bangladesh and were also on the brink of elimination.

South Africa belted 356 for four off 50 overs and the West Indies replied with 289 for nine.

The Windies' tally was quite good, especially when one takes into consideration the fact that the highest score at the ground prior to yesterday's match was 277.

However, if one had taken a glimpse - not even a good look - at the Windies' final XI announced ahead of play, it would have been easy to predict that South Africa, one of the world's best batting teams, were going to amass a total well over 300.

No bowling attack

Quite simply, the West Indies went into the match without a bowling attack.

Daren Powell, Corey Collymore and Ian Bradshaw were the only genuine bowlers selected, along with regular allrounder Dwayne Bravo.

Tobegin with, three changes were made to the team. Two of them, Devon Smith and teenager Kieron Pollard, were playing for the first time in the tournament, while Bradshaw was brought in to replace Jerome Taylor, the team's fastest bowler.

Smith substituted Marlon Samuels and Pollard came in for Dwayne Smith.

Both changes were bad. If they were not good enough to have played in any of the six matches before, then neither should have been considered for such a huge contest, a crunch match, ahead of players who are far more experienced at this level.

This crucial match against South Africa was not supposed to be the day they got their chance.

Devon Smith had only played in 10 ODIs prior to yesterday, with an average of 25-odd and a highest score of 44. He does not bowl.

Comparatively, Samuels played 89 ODIs, averages 29.55 and has scored two centuries and 13 fifties. Having selected those bowlers, it was clear the Windies were going to be chasing more than 300 so a batsman with centuries and many fifties like Samuels should have been an automatic choice ahead of one without a 50 and as inexperienced as Devon Smith.

Samuels has also proved to be a handy off-spinner, which should have improved his chances in a squad hurt by the absence of a spin bowler and given the way Bangladesh's spinners tied down South Africa at the weekend.

First-team player

Pollard is worse off than Smith. He had never been a first-team player in an official ODI. But you just can't blame the teen. After all, if the Windies selectors called me up to play tomorrow I would gleefully accept the offer. Though he had no reason to be in a World Cup squad, Pollard didn't pick himself.

I've never argued a case for Dwayne Smith. His performances over time and a batting average of 7.6 in the past year doesn't support such backing. Check this though - Dwayne Smith really became a fixture in this Windies team for a 93-ball ton against this same bowling line-up in a TEST MATCH in December, 2003 in Durban that saved the Windies from a whitewash. He has been playing for almost four years on that promise since. Why drop him now, for an untested teen, at the game's premier tournament, at that?

I'm only playing devil's advocate in this case though. I would have dropped Dwayne Smith and played Jerome Taylor because the West Indies needed their top bowlers to restrict South Africa to a beatable total.

In the previous match when Sri Lanka pummeled 303 for five, Taylor bowled eight overs for 32 runs. The West Indies started sliding yesterday after the opening bowlers, Powell and Collymore, completed the first 10 overs for 36 runs, but apart from Bradshaw, they never had another real bowling option to maintain any form of pressure or provide a breakthrough when it was needed.

Instead, they had to be relying on their brilliance in the field, which is what you really limit your wicket-taking opportunities to with a depleted bowling attack that places you on the backfoot before ball one.

Fielding has not worked at this World Cup for the hosts, especially with the run-out half chances, so I really can't figure why the team selectors thought it'd have been any different against South Africa yesterday.

For one last time, they just could not get it right again.

audley.boyd@gleanerjm.com