South Africa lead in first West Indies Test
Half-centuries from Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi, along with useful contributions from Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder, highlighted a fine batting performance for South Africa as they ended the second day at 344 for 8. There was little help on the pitch for the bowlers, but West Indies picked up four wickets in the final session to keep the Test match tied.
South Africa registered the highest partnership of 57 runs and none of their batsmen could cross the three-figure mark, which would have disappointed them. Jommel Warrican (3 for 66) was the star for West Indies with the bowling.
Continued positive performance from day one
South Africa continued positive performance from day one. Stubbs took advantage of an overpitched delivery from Kemar Roach and hit the bowler for two boundaries. This prompted a bowling change by replacing Roach with Jayden Seales, who caught the ball after eluding Stubbs on a couple of occasions. De Zorzi brought up his half-century by pushing the ball to the legside. Stubbs was then dismissed, as one of his deliveries was edged to first slip.
Temba Bavuma and De Zorzi shared a 57-run stand in good batting conditions. After both batsmen got set, the left-hander did not score runs during the game. He attempted a reverse-sweep, but went straight into the hands of first slip. David Bedingham survived a misunderstanding with Bavuma, as Seales failed to hold on to the ball for a run-out chance.
Intent indicated
After lunch, Bedingham hit a six and then two boundaries, which indicated his intent. But, he pulled the ball straight to the deep, although there were two fielders covering the pull shot. Bavuma brought up his fifty with two boundaries off Holder. Warrican dropped a simple catch off Rickelton, off his own bowling, and Bavuma hit a six off Warrican in the next over, further worsening his situation.
Kraig Brathwaite brought himself and Alick Athanaz down to reach the 80-over mark as soon as possible and the fortunes changed soon after tea. West Indies took the second new ball and Roach caught Rickelton close to stumps. Verheynne and Bavuma put on a cautious partnership during which the former was hit by a beamer on his forearm but managed to hold on. Bavuma survived a close leg-before wicket call on 82, which was an umpire’s decision at stumps and the decision went in his favour. But Bavuma was dismissed when he mistimed a full toss, the ball hitting the pad in front of off-stump.
Both batsmen started hitting boundaries with relative ease
Mulder hit a four and a six in front of the stumps. He survived, as the ball hit his pads. Towards the end of the day, both batsmen started hitting boundaries with relative ease, taking advantage of a tiring bowling attack. However, Warrican kept the Test match tied by dismissing Verheynne and Keshav Maharaj on consecutive balls. Play was interrupted due to rain for most of the first day, so a full 98 overs were bowled on the second day.
Jommel Warrican was the most successful of the West Indies bowlers, with the left-arm orthodox spinner taking three wickets for 66 runs. This included two wickets in two consecutive balls in the last half an hour, increasing his team’s chances of bowling out their opponents before the 400-run mark.
Trying to play as hard as possible
I tried to play as hard as possible today, because it is a very flat pitch and it was important to be very disciplined, Warrican said. I would have liked to be a little more economical, but at least I was able to take some wickets.
This pitch is quite easy to bat on, so it was a great job for us to take seven wickets considering the heat today, he said. Veteran pacer Kemar Roach, who returned to the team after missing the England tour due to a knee injury, and fellow opener Jaden Seales took two wickets each.
Both enjoyed success in the morning, but returned later in the day to take a wicket each with the second new ball to limit South Africa’s progress. Many South African players would have been disappointed with the way West Indies bowled, especially the two top scorers. – Inexplicable de Zorzi.
Conclusion
Fifties from skipper Temba Bavuma and opener Tony de Zorzi helped South Africa reach their first innings total of 344 for eight on the second day of the first Test of the two-match series against the West Indies in Trinidad on Thursday.
Bavuma’s determined 86 and de Zorzi’s 78 powered the Proteas effort after they began the day at 45 for one due to heavy rain that allowed only 15 overs to be bowled on the first day. The surface offered little room for bowlers but its double pace also made free scoring difficult.
