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Chaos after tea as West Indies roar back

cricket01 March 2023 16:44| © MWP
By:Patrick Compton
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Eleven wickets fell in the final session of play to leave South Africa gasping and the West Indies with renewed hope on the second day of the Betway first test at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

The evening session has proved a graveyard for batsmen with South Africa losing seven wickets on day one and then the West Indies losing 7-43 themselves on Wednesday to tumble from 169 for three to 212 all out.

And then, as if the fates were still hungry for more, the Proteas lost four wickets for 18 runs as they went in to bat again with a handsome first-innings lead of 130.

The home team stumbled off the field at the close of play on 49 for four, an overall lead of 179 with first-innings centurion Aiden Markram – who seemed to be playing on a different surface altogether – unbeaten on 35 in 33 balls, having struck six sublime boundaries.

All looked good for South Africa as Markram and Elgar went out to bat again with about 40 minutes remaining after their demolition job.

And with Markram leading the way, the Proteas raced to 31 in the fourth over before Elgar played a shot that will haunt his dreams.

Having got out in the first innings by ramping a short delivery from Alzarri Joseph to third man, he proceeded to do exactly the same thing in the second innings.

It was the kind of mindless shot, again off Joseph, that a panic-stricken debutant might play, but not South Africa’s grizzled veteran who is known as a level-headed sticker not a flighty dasher.

His dismissal opened the door for the West Indies pace attack, with Kemar Roach bowling a beauty that seamed away from Tony de Zorzi who edged behind first ball while Temba Bavuma picked up a pair, going first ball to another superb delivery from Joseph that left him off a good length, inducing another edge to the wicketkeeper.

A blameless Keegan Petersen was the last wicket to fall, trapped leg before to a scuttler off Jason Holder’s first ball to begin the final over of the day. It was Holder’s 150th scalp in tests.

CONTRASTING SESSIONS

South Africa’s powerful position to push for victory has now been compromised and the odds levelled once again with the West Indies finishing the day in an exultant mood.

In an extraordinary session the West Indies had worked their way in a period of attritional, almost old-fashioned test cricket to 169 for three shortly after tea with Raymon Reifer and Roston Chase building on an earlier partnership of 64 in 132 balls between Reifer and Jerome Blackwood (37).

The pair had added a further 47 when, almost out of nowhere, they were sent packing in two balls. The first, from Marco Jansen, had Reifer edging behind for 62 (143 balls), a gritty innings in which he showed good powers of concentration.

The next ball from Kagiso Rabada accounted for Chase (22), edging another fine delivery to Elgar at slip.

The door of opportunity now opened wide for Anrich Nortje to sweep through the West Indies tail, in the process taking his fourth five-wicket haul in tests.

In the end, the visitors lost their last seven wickets for 43 as the innings simply crumbled away.

The contrast between the afternoon session and the evening one was palpable.

In the former – after going in to lunch on 71 for two, the West Indies only lost one wicket but equally South Africa conceded only 65 runs in 29 overs as the test match went into something of a holding pattern at a miserly 2.2 runs per over.

Very little happened, with the discipline of the Proteas’ attack matched by the defensive skills of Reifer and Chase.

That all changed after tea with the wholehearted Nortje finishing with 5-36 off 16 overs, further cementing his reputation as a world-class fast bowler.

His teammate, Rabada, who will bowl far worse and get twice as many wickets, finished with 2-44 in 16 overs, including the dismissal in the morning of West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite with one of the best deliveries he will ever bowl, the ball pitching on a perfect length and seaming marginally away to take the top of his off-stump.

Both men bowled beautifully, but it was Nortje’s turn to play a starring role.

Report Day 1

SOUTH AFRICA: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (capt), Keegan Petersen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Senuran Muthusamy, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Gerald Coetzee

WEST INDIES: Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Raymon Reifer, Jermaine Blackwood, Kyle Mayers, Roston Chase, Joshua da Silva (wk), Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel

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