Another batting feast in prospect

Last week, West Indies made a significant breakthrough. Their victory over Easterns at Willowmoore Park was, at the 16th attempt, their maiden first-class triumph on South African soil. With that in mind, it may be stretching credulity to suggest that they can carry on the good work and triumph in tomorrow's fourth and final Test at Centurion.

West Indies do have previous experience of victory in a dead-rubber situation against South Africa. At Sabina Park in April 2001, they won by a handsome 130 runs to salvage some pride from another disappointing series. On that occasion, however, they were galvanised by the impending retirement of Courtney Walsh, who finished the match with a world-record 519 Test wickets.

This time around, it is a South African bowler who is entering the match with a record in his sights. Shaun Pollock has an opportunity to overhaul Allan Donald as South Africa's leading wicket-taker in Test cricket. He currently has 321 to his name, but he needs 10 wickets to claim the top spot before the end of the series.

"It would be sad to take [the record] away from Allan, who is certainly South Africa's best-ever fast bowler," said Pollock. "I can't compare myself to him; I was never a fast bowler, I'm an allrounder, and I play a different type of role."

But Pollock's bowling work may be cut out if he is to break Donald's record in this match. He described the Centurion pitch as the "best batting strip in the country", and seeing as 15 hundreds have been scored in the series already, it promises to be another batsman-dominated Test.

One of the most dominant batsmen on display at Cape Town was the West Indian debutant Dwayne Smith, who clattered a wonderful 93-ball hundred, despite suffering from a dislocated finger. But the effort took its toll, and he is struggling to be ready in time. "Hopefully he will be able to grip the bat properly and be able to field, even if he can't bowl," said his captain, Brian Lara, who is at least able to call once again on the services of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who had to miss the third Test with a thigh strain.

Even though Wavell Hinds has flown home with a groin problem, the West Indian batting is not a major concern, especially with Lara in some of the most glorious form of his life. It is the bowling that has let them down so far this series, and it is highly likely that the 19-year-old Ravi Rampaul will make his debut, after picking up six wickets against Easterns.

"That win was important because it gave us a little bit of momentum going into the Test," said Lara. "But the most important thing for me is that this side should keep improving. I would like to see a whole-hearted effort so we can all come off the field proud of our performance. We know this is our last opportunity to salvage something from the series, and I am determined not to let South Africa win this one."

West Indies' prospects may be improved if Andre Nel, who took his first five-wicket haul in the third Test, is distracted by off-pitch issues. He is due to be getting married on the second afternoon, and faces an unusual division of loyalties. The couple have been persuaded to postpone the ceremony by a couple of hours, although Nel is sure to have one eye on the altar, especially if play is extended into the evening by bad weather.

But South Africa are desperate to prove that the draw at Newlands was an aberration. "Any notion that we won't be pushing as hard for victory in the fourth Test as we did in the first can be instantly dismissed," wrote their captain, Graeme Smith, in his newspaper column. "We have closed the gap on Australia at the top of the Test championship in recent weeks, and every single Test victory counts, not just series wins."

South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Gary Kirsten, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Jacques Rudolph, 6 Neil McKenzie, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Paul Adams, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel.

West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Daren Ganga, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Smith, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Vasbert Drakes, 9 Mervyn Dillon, 10 Fidel Edwards, 11 Ravi Rampaul.