South Africa start clear favourites

West Indies started off promisingly in South Africa, winning the first Twenty20 international and Test in December, but have faltered since then, losing the Test series and the second Twenty20 international in Johannesburg on Friday. The two teams now head into a five-match ODI series, and South Africa's recent record at home surely makes them favourites.

Since the disappointment in the World Cup in 2003, South Africa have not lost an ODI tournament at home. West Indies have failed to put up a challenge against them, with the previous two bilateral series in South Africa resulting in 6-1 and 3-1 losses.

South Africa have won six of their last seven matches against West Indies, the only blip being the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006. Jacques Kallis leads the batting charts for his team against West Indies: he's the only batsman to aggregate over 1000 runs against them, with Herschelle Gibbs closing in on the mark.

Shaun Pollock capped off his Twenty20 international career in style on Friday, and will be eyeing the 13 wickets he needs to reach the 400 mark in ODIs. He's the team's leading wicket-taker against West Indies, but Kallis and Ntini have done their share of damage as well.

An inexperienced West Indian batting line-up will be looking up to Shivnarine Chanderpaul to lead the way. Chris Gayle's fitness will also be crucial for the visitors, as they are already without Ramnaresh Sarwan, who possesses a good record against the South Africans.

West Indies' fast-bowling trio of Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell bowled their team to victory in the first Test in Port Elizabeth, but cumulatively they have played only six ODIs against South Africa. Carl Hooper is the leading wicket-taker for West Indies against South Africa, while among the current squad it's the non-specialist bowlers Gayle and Samuels who have bagged a few wickets.

South Africa have generally been dominant at home, and the balance tilts in their favour when they win the toss. South Africa have won 64 ODIs at home after winning the toss, and lost only 17. Two of the matches in this series are day-night affairs, and South Africa's record after calling it right is even better in those, with 36 wins and seven losses in 46 day-night matches.