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Chanderpaul ... was roundly chastised by the media in South Africa for slow batting.

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (CMC):

Returning to their happy hunting ground on this tour, the West Indies have already surrendered all momentum, while also losing considerable sympathy going into the third one-day international today.

Four weeks ago, the Caribbean squad left this windswept city on the Eastern Cape in buoyant mood after a stunning 128-run victory in the opening Test of the three-match series, their first ever Test match victory on South African soil.

Now, on the heels of a five-match losing streak and an especially dispiriting performance in the second ODI in Cape Town on Friday, the tourists seem to be in no condition to pull off another upset at St George's Park to keep the five-match series alive ahead of the final two matches in Durban and Johannesburg.

A succession of international defeats

For their part, the Proteas are desperate to begin redressing the balance at a venue where they have suffered a succession of international defeats in recent seasons, including a five-wicket loss to the West Indies in the first rain-affected Twenty20 match at the start of the visitors' campaign in this country.

More than just winning to clinch the series and stay on course for a whitewash of their opponents, South Africa's cricketers seem to feel they owe it to the fans here to lift their game.

"As everyone knows, we haven't played our best cricket in P.E., and it's about time that we give the people there something to cheer about," said all-rounder Shaun Pollock after receiving the Man of the Match award at Newlands on Friday night.

"Of course I want to do well, but more than that, we've got to give those fans a performance deserving of their great support over the years."

It would be most opportune for the West Indies to at least spoil this one farewell party for Pollock even those generally sympathetic to the visitors' plight were thoroughly disgusted by their lack of fight after being set a not improbable target of 256 in the second one-dayer.

The squad now under the leadership of Dwayne Bravo, arrived in Port Elizabeth at midday yesterday and it remained unclear whether Shivnarine Chanderpaul would be fit to play the following day.

Universally admired for his determination, resilience and considerable powers of concentration, the former captain was roundly chastised by the media here for failing to show any urgency during his innings of 54 at Newlands at a time when the West Indies were still in with a realistic chance of at least seriously challenging the South African total.

Bruised knee

For most of his innings, Chanderpaul batted with a runner due to a bruised knee, and given the extent to which he was hobbling during his tortuous occupation of the crease, there is no guarantee that he will be passed fit to play in what is a do-or-die fixture for the West Indies.

Throughout the South African leg of the tour, the 33-year-old left-hander has spent considerable time in the dressing room while his teammates were on the field, nursing a succession of ailments ranging from bruises, strains and niggles to a viral illness that prevented him from batting in the second innings of the third and final Test in Durban.

This, of course, is nothing new as his 14-year international career has been briefly interrupted on numerous occasions for one complaint or the other.

In the present circumstances, however, with recent captain Ramnaresh Sarwan ruled out of the tour because of injury and appointed skipper Chris Gayle returning home with a nagging hamstring strain and a fractured left thumb, Chanderpaul has been asked to carry an even greater burden than usual.

That responsibility has not so far extended to include returning to the top of the order, from where he has compiled seven of his eight ODI hundreds and formed a very successful partnership with Gayle up to a few months ago.

Tour selectors seem intent on giving every opportunity to the specialist openers - Devon Smith, Brenton Parchment and Sewnarine Chattergoon - to establish themselves at international level.

How long they will be prepared to do so to the continued detriment of top-order stability, especially as they now face a must-win situation, remains to be seen.

Struggling

With Runako Morton also struggling to get the ball off the square and Marlon Samuels returning to infuriatingly brief appearances at the crease since the departure of Gayle, the West Indies have more than a few challenges heading into this match.

They may be considering the return of Daren Powell at the expense of Ravi Rampaul, who never settled during the course of three wayward overs in Cape Town.

Another surface favourable for batting is expected at St George's Park, where the ground staff's efforts to prepare a batting paradise have been aided considerably by a week of relentless sunshine leading up to the match.

The encounter is being highly anticipated by the locals, more for the desire to see Pollock say farewell to the fans of the Eastern Cape with a rare winning team performance here than any expectation that the West Indies can once again gain inspiration from the oldest international venue in South Africa.

TEAMS:

South Africa (from) - Graeme Smith (captain), Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Albie Morkel, Johan Botha, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Andre Nel, Charl Langeveldt, Makhaya N'tini.

West Indies (from) - Dwayne Bravo (captain), Brenton Parchment, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Devon Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Runako Morton, Darren Sammy, Denesh Ramdin, Patrick Browne, Rawl Lewis, Jerome Taylor, Ravi Rampaul, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards.