Cape Town: South Africa have yet to make a decision on their batting line-up for Wednesday’s second Test against the 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 the first Test on South African soil by 128 runs.

“No final decisions have been made on the team,” Smith said. “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. He 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.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle said his team was ready for the contest. “We have celebrated the New Year, but our focus is back on the cricket,” he said.

Teams

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

West Indies (from): 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.

       (Reuters)