Proteas speedster Kagiso Rabada was the star bowler as the Proteas sealed a comfortable 87-run win over the West Indies in the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday afternoon.
With the Proteas needing four wickets to win, and the Windies needing 154-runs after tea, Rabada picked up three of the final four wickets to claim his 13th career Test five wicket haul and finish with brilliant figures of 6/50.
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Windies middle order batter Jermaine Blackwood tries his best to keep his side in the match with 79 off 93 balls (12×4; 1×6), but he was eventually the penultimate wicket to fall as his side fell well short.
After tea Blackwood and Jason Holder (18) took the attack to Rabada and Anrich Nortje, as they tried to hit their side back into the match.
Both batters cracked boundaries off every over, as they moved their seventh wicket stand to 37-runs, which sparked hopes of a famous comeback.
But it was that man Rabada that made the vital breakthrough once again as he had Holder caught behind by keeper Heinrich Klaasen, with them on 128/7, still needing 119-runs to win, which pretty much ended their chances.
Nortje had Alzarri Joseph (4) caught by Rabada at long leg, before Rabada closed things out by having Blackwood caught at second slip by Aiden Markram and then trapped Kemar Roach (12) LBW, with the all out for 157.
In the post lunch session the Proteas closed in on an opening Test win as the visitors on fell to 93/6 at the tea break.
After lunch the Windies resumed their chase having not scored yet with a wicket down, and they were soon in massive strife.
After Tagenarine Chanderpaul (10) was dropped at third slip by Keegan Petersen off the bowling of Nortje, Rabada made the first breakthrough after lunch, when Raymon Reifer (8) flashed at a wider delivery but only ended up edging to keeper Heinrich Klaasen.
Marco Jansen then came into the attack and made an immediate impact, having Chanderpaul caught off a top edge by Nortje, and then bowling Roston Chase for a first ball duck, as the Windies crashed to 20/4.
Kyle Mayers never looked comfortable in his 15 ball stay at the crease and eventually edged a Gerald Coetzee delivery to first slip, leaving them in massive strife on 33/5.
That brought Joshua da Silva (17) to the crease and along with Blackwood they counter attacked with an impressive 58-run sixth wicket stand.
Blackwood the aggressor
Blackwood was by far the aggressor, with Da Silva taking 16 balls to score his first runs, but once he got off the mark with a boundary, he looked a lot more attacking as they tried to drag their side back into the contest.
But the return of Rabada to the bowling attack paid immediate dividends as he found the outside edge of Da Silva’s bat, with Petersen taking the catch at third slip leaving them on 91/6.
Jason Holder (1no) joined Blackwood and helped him ease them to tea without another wicket.
Earlier in the day the Proteas went into the lunch break in the best possible mood thanks to an early breakthrough, after their batting woes continued, setting the West Indies 247-runs to win.
Having been bowled out for a paltry 116 in their second innings and opening the door for the Windies to fightback, just one over was possible just before the lunch break for the visitors to survive before picking up in the afternoon.
However it took just three balls for a massive breakthrough as Rabada angled a delivery down the leg side, with Windies captain Kraigg Brathwaite trying to flick the ball, only to get a faint edge onto his pad, with keeper Klaasen taking the catch diving to his left.
At the start of play the Proteas resumed their second innings in a perilous position on 49/4 and it didn’t take long for wickets to start falling as Klaasen (5) played a loose drive at a ball from Holder, only to edge it behind to keeper Da Silva with the score 57/5.
First innings centurion Aiden Markram (47) was a lot more reserved than he was during the evening session on day two where he played very aggressively, and having added just 12 runs to his overnight total, he was undone by a good ball from Kemar Roach which straightened and took the edge to the keeper.
In his next over a superb ball from Roach straightened off the seam and took the top of Jansen’s (6) off stump and on 72/7 the Proteas were in deep trouble.
That soon became 80/8 as Senuran Muthusamy, who struggled in scoring just four off 36 deliveries, feathered and edge down the leg side off the bowling of Shannon Gabriel.
A vital 29-run ninth wicket partnership between Coetzee and Rabada (10no) then followed, pushing the Proteas towards a defendable total.
Coetzee was in a belligerent mood as he clattered 20 runs off just 14 balls, taking particular liking to Gabriel’s bowling as he crunched him for two fours and a six straight down the ground, before he edged a short ball from Roach to keeper Da Silva.
Last man Nortje (4) didn’t last long and he edged Roach behind to end the innings, with the Proteas holding a lead of 246-runs.
Nortje’s dismissal was Da Silva’s seventh snag of the innings behind the wicket and was Roach’s fifth wicket, as the veteran clinched his 11th Test five wicket haul, finishing with figures of 5/47.
