PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Test newcomer Shane Shillingford and Sulieman Benn gave West Indies a boost of confidence, and shook South Africa up in the opening Test yesterday at Queen’s Park Oval.
Gaining appreciable turn and bounce from a true Queen’s Park Oval pitch, Shillingford captured two wickets for five runs from six overs, and Benn took one for 21 from 11 overs, as South Africa, choosing to bat, wobbled to 70 for three, when bad light stopped play early on a rain-marred opening day.
West Indies made the proverbial hay, after play started four hours and 35 minutes late due to rain, and openers Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen carried South Africa to 45 without loss at tea.
Things started to happen for West Indies from as early as the second over after tea, when embattled wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin dropped Alviro Petersen on 23 off Benn.
Off-spinner Shillingford, playing in his maiden Test, gave West Indies the breakthrough a few overs later however, when Smith edged, and was caught at slip for 23 playing defensively forward.
Bad light stopped play for about 20 minutes following Smith’s departure, but things continued to happen for West Indies, when play resumed.
Benn had Hashim Amla, the thorn for West Indies in the preceding two Twenty20 and five One-day Internationals, caught at slip for two also playing defensively forward.
Benn felt he had Petersen lbw on 28, when he struck him full on the boot, but West Indies reviewed the decision, and the batsman survived.
Shillingford, bowling with a maturity belying his Test experience, then tightened West Indies’ grip, when he trapped Petersen lbw for 31 playing across, following a video umpire review.
West Indies were unable to make further inroads into the South African batting before umpires Asad Rauf of Pakistan and Steve Davis of Australia offered light to Jacques Kallis and night-watchman Paul Harris.
After the lengthy delay, West Indies came close to collecting an early wicket before tea, when Ravi Rampaul forced Smith into edging a back-foot defensive shot just short of the slip fielders, and then the same batsman drove Dwayne Bravo just out of the reach of short cover Narsingh Deonarine.
The West Indies bowled steadily, but the two South African openers batted responsibly to accumulate their runs, and struck a few crisp strokes.
Rampaul twice dropped short at Smith, and the big left-hander twice crunched him through mid-wicket with pulls for four, and Petersen swept an over-pitched delivery from Sulieman Benn through square leg for a searing boundary.
But West Indies came roaring back after the break, and put the South Africans under some early pressure.
The long range forecast from the Trinidad & Tobago Met Office indicated that isolated thunderstorms will disrupt the match over the five days.
The two sides also play Tests in St. Kitts (June 18-22) and Barbados (June 26-30).
