I strongly believe we can beat South Africa

Chris Gayle

How quickly things change in a week.

In my last diary, we were basking in the glory of having upset South Africa in the first of the three Test matches. Now, the stakes are even 1-1 with one to go in Durban, starting on Thursday.

Our seven-wicket loss in four days at Newlands in Cape Town was very disappointing, given how well we had battled to victory in Port Elizabeth. Yes, we fought – and at times held our own – in the second encounter but, in the end, our effort fell short. We definitely did not bat as well as we did in the first match and returns of 243 and 262 were just not good enough, though Shivnarine Chanderpaul stood out with unbeaten scores of 65 and 70. We really should have scored at least 350 in our initial outing at the crease.

I’m never one to make excuses but the injuries to myself and fast bowler Fidel Edwards certainly impacted the team’s overall performance. Fidel played a major role in our victory charge at St George’s Park, and though Dwayne Bravo was outstanding with the ball in South Africa’s first innings of 321, we definitely missed Fidel’s pace and venom in our attack.

Getting struck on my left thumb by Andre Nel early on the fourth morning, when I was preparing to dig in for a long knock, was a huge misfortune. I can’t lie; that was some terrible pain. It hurt badly and I already had to be careful with my right hamstring, which is not fully healed and prevented me taking my place at the top of the order in the second innings. The news that my thumb was fractured really deflated me but I decided that, as we were still in with a chance in Cape Town, I would bear the pain and try to get the team up to a reasonable score. Shiv [Chanderpaul] and I hit some lusty blows but unfortunately we needed more than the target of 185 to challenge South Africa.

Even worse than losing the match was the expected prognosis that my thumb injury will necessitate another layoff of two to three weeks so I’m definitely out of the final and deciding Test match. I’m not sure about Fidel though. I hope he can play because having him is a significant advantage for us.

I strongly believe that we can still beat South Africa – the No. 2 team in Test cricket – but we will have to put Cape Town behind us and get back to the high standard which we set in Port Elizabeth. We will have to fight even harder and give an improved performance with the bat if we are to pull off what would be a magnificent series success.

It will be frustrating for me to be on the sidelines but that’s life. I will still be supporting the guys and giving them all the advice which I can. I really hope we can win and give fans even more reason to believe in us.