January 02, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 22, 1428

CAPE TOWN, Jan 1: South Africa have yet to make a decision on their batting line-up for Wednesday’s second Test against West Indies after their surprise loss in the first game of the three-match series.

Neil McKenzie has been added to their squad as a possible replacement for the struggling opener Herschelle Gibbs after West Indies won their first Test on South African soil by 128 runs.

“No final decisions have been made on the team,” Smith told a news conference on Tuesday. “There’s no clarity on the team at the moment, sorry.”

Smith said he was confident his team would give a better account of themselves in the second Test.

“We had a very good training session yesterday, and we seem to be hitting our straps again,” he said. “Hopefully it’s just about executing and getting things right out in the middle.

“We know we’re capable of it, we’ve proven our worth. We know we’re going to play this game under pressure, and we know we can play a lot better than we did in Port Elizabeth.”

Smith was hopeful the match would be played on a fair pitch.

“It looks like a pretty good surface, it probably has the best covering of grass I’ve seen at Newlands for a while,” he said.

“It has been a bit patchy in the last couple of years, but this pitch looks pretty good.

“It looks like it might take a bit of spin later in the game. Hopefully it has a good bit of bounce in it.”

West Indies captain Chris Gayle said his team were ready for the contest.

“We have celebrated the New Year, but our focus is back on the cricket,” he said. “It has to be because we know South Africa will be coming back strongly.”

Coach John Dyson added: “I knew the guys have the skills and the ability, and it was great to see them put some of that skill and ability on display.

“We’ve won the first Test and that’s terrific, but we’ve now got to focus on the cricket that’s ahead of us.”

Reserve wicket-keeper Patrick Browne joined the West Indian squad in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Teams (from):

SOUTH AFRICA: Graeme Smith (captain), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, A.B. de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Ashwell Prince, Neil McKenzie, Andre Nel, Paul Harris, Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini.

WEST INDIES: Chris Gayle (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Patrick Browne, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Rawl Lewis, Runako Morton, Brenton Parchment, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe).

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka).—Reuters