JOHANNESBURG, CMC – West Indies dramatically snatched five wickets – two to Kyle Mayers in the closing overs – in a stirring comeback after tea to turn around their fortunes against hosts South Africa in the second Test yesterday.
Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie was the most successful bowler for the Caribbean side, but Mayers struck twice in the span of three balls in successive overs a little before the close, and the South Africans ended the opening day of the contest on 311 for seven.
For the second successive Test, the West Indies bowlers were untidy in the first two sessions, and the Proteas, led by Aiden Markram and left-handed rookie Tony de Zorzi, rattled along at four runs an over and were comfortably placed on 247 for two at tea.
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Once Jason Holder got South Africa captain Temba Bavuma lbw for 28 offering no stroke to a delivery that moved back in the third over after the break, the fragility of the home team’s middle-order batting was again exposed.
Motie, returning to the side after a lower-back injury side-lined him for the first Test, ended the day with three for 75 from 19 overs, including the prized scalps of Markram for the top score of 96 and de Zorzi, playing in his second Test, for a resolute 85.
But Mayers tilted the balance when he bowled Wiaan Mulder for 12 with a sharp inswinger in the third-last over, and got Simon Harmer caught behind for one, edging a well-pitched leg-cutter in the final over to finish the day with two for 24 from 7.2 overs.
“In the first session of the game, we were searching to find out what was the best length, what was the best line to bowl on the deck,” Mayers told reporters after play. “After bowling a few overs, we realised then that it was best to try to starve the batsmen of runs.
“They got ahead with the run rate, and we just wanted to bring it down a bit, and we thought that bringing down the run rate would have created more chances, and we did that.”
He added: “It’ still an open game. More than 300 runs on the board in the first innings is always good for a batting team, especially in these conditions with the ball moving around.
“It’s just for us to limit them as much as possible under 400 to keep the game open. I thought they batted really well at the beginning, but the late strikes brought us back into the game.”
Mayers said: “Once you are patient enough in a Test match, you will get the rewards. If you put the right amount of balls in the right areas for a long period of time, it always gives the batsman a hard time.
“Against any line-up, I think with our attack, once we get it right, I think we have a lot of wicket-taking deliveries, and I think it is just for us to build the pressure, and be consistent.
“Once we do that in between the wicket-taking deliveries, that is the most important thing for us. We just need to restrict the run rate, keep the scoring down, and we can take 20 wickets with this attack that we have.”
Motie made the breakthrough for the Caribbean side in the final hour before lunch after the South Africans won the toss and chose to bat on a typically dry Wanderers Stadium pitch.
The Guyanese tweaker got left-handed opener Dean Elgar when the immediate past South Africa captain went for a sweep and was caught at short fine leg for 42 after putting on 76 for the first wicket with Markram.
For the remainder of the morning period, West Indies were subjected to a period of chasing leather with Markram enjoying himself with a volley of strokes, mostly drives through the off-side.
None of the the visitors’ bowlers were spared, and Markram reached his 50 from 68 balls with a back-foot drive through cover off Roston Chase for the 10th of his 17 boundaries, and the South Africans reached 133 for one at lunch.
After the interval, West Indies appeared to be waiting for something to happen, and Markram and de Zorzi indulged themselves to add 116 for the second wicket with little trouble.
Eventually something happened for the Caribbean side on the stroke of the afternoon refereshments break when Markram tried an ill-advised scoop off Motie and instead miscued to be caught by Jermaine Blackwood running to the leg-side from slip to hold a juggled catch.
West Indies continued to meet defiance from de Zorzi, and the 25-year-old, left-hander reached his 50 from 82 balls when he drove Alzarri Joseph through gully for the seventh of his 11 fours, and he put on 56 for third wicket with Bavuma either side of tea. Things started to happen for the visitors after the break when they finally tightened up, and Holder got Bavuma, Motie bowled de Zorzi playing forward, and left-hander Ryan Rickelton was caught behind off Joseph for 22 before Mayers put a bow on things.
Motie replaced pacer Shannon Gabriel in the West Indies line-up for the match – and South Africa made four changes, bringing Rickelton, Mulder, Harmer, and Keshav Maharaj in to replace Keegan Peterson, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, and Senuran Muthusamy.
West Indies trail 0-1 in the two-Test series after South Africa won the first Test that ended last Thursday at Centurion Park in Pretoria by 87 runs.