With a lead of 239, and five wickets in hand on a surface that got better to bat on as the day went on, South Africa put fingertips on the Sir Vivian Richards trophy.
Eight wickets fell on another action packed day in Guyana where the advantage ebbed and flowed. South Africa took two early on but West Indies’ last pair got them close to drawing level in the first innings. Jason Holder and Shamar Joseph shared a 10th-wicket stand of 40 – the second highest in the West Indian innings – to turn the match into all but a one-innings game and in that game, South Africa will feel they have the advantage.
An opening stand of 79, half-centuries from Aiden Markram and Kyle Verreynne and an unbeaten 84-run sixth-wicket partnership between Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder – the highest of the series so far – all put South Africa in a strong position. But, with plenty of time left in the game, West Indies will not be too disheartened, especially as they’ve seen how quickly wickets fall early on.
South Africa lost four in the first session of day one and West Indies three on day two, which could provide West Indies with an opportunity early on the third day. The pitch is expected to be at its best on the third afternoon and West Indies will want to be batting by then, especially with a big chase in their sights. Before they get there, West Indies will rely on their attack, particularly hometown hero Joseph, and Jayden Seales who took 2 for 7 in his third spell, to get rid of South Africa’s middle and lower order. So far, they have held up well after a mini-collapse which saw South Africa lose 4 for 19 in nine overs after a solid start of 120 for 1.
South Africa’s openers were tested upfront with seam movement from Seales and tight lines from Holder. Markram edged Holder short of first slip at the end of his first over but settled when he drove Seales for four through cover point five balls later. Tony de Zorzi was hit on the back pad by Seales and flirted with a run-out chance when he pushed a single off Holder but pulled Seales off his toes to announce himself. South Africa went to lunch unscathed on 30 without loss.
Runs came quickly after the break and South Africa had more than doubled their morning score to 66 in 4.4 overs after the interval when they offered their first real chance. De Zorzi edged Holder to the left of wicket-keeper Joshua da Silva, who dived low to try and take the catch but could not hold on. De Zorzi was on 36 at the time and added only three runs off the next 35 balls he faced before he nicked off to give Seales a well-earned reward. De Zorzi punched his bat in frustration as he walked off with the opening stand broken on 79.
Markram and Tristan Stubbs eked out six runs off the next four overs while they bided time but Stubbs’ patience seemed to be tested when he edged Gudakesh Motie past slip for three. Stubbs’ first boundary came off the 21st ball he faced when he reverse swept Motie through third but he did not look entirely comfortable at any point in the session. He survived an lbw appeal off Holder and held his end through to tea. Markram was lucky to get there when, on 42, he drove Motie to Alick Athanaze at silly mid-off but was put down. South Africa were 111 for 1 at the tea break, 127 runs ahead.
Three overs into the final session, Markram reached 50 off 104 balls but seven balls after that was stuck on the back foot to a Motie ball that straightened and was given out lbw. Temba Bavuma could have been out three balls later when he edged an away seamer from Joseph but it did not carry to slip. Motie had better luck when Bavuma went forward to a length ball, was hit on the pad. The umpire didn’t think it was out, but West Indies successfully reviewed to have the decision overturned.
That wicket sparked a mini-collapse. In the next over, Stubbs edged Seales to Da Silva and two overs after that David Bedingham was bowled to give Seales a second wicket in three overs and give them a chance of keeping South Africa’s lead below 200. Mulder and Verreynne took them over that mark. They were in danger of being separated 12 minutes before the end of play when Mulder was given out lbw in Seales’ fourth spell but he reviewed and ball-tracking showed it was missing leg. The pair accelerated towards the end of the day with 26 runs off the last four overs, which included Verreynne’s fifty off 71 ball – his third in Test cricket. All of his half-centuries, and his only Test hundred so far, have come away from home.
Earlier, a 40-run 10th wicket stand between Holder and Joseph meant West Indies finished just 16 runs adrift of South Africa’s first innings score of 160. After resuming on 97 for 7, West Indies managed six runs in 27 balls before Kagiso Rabada struck for the first time in the match. Jomel Warrican, who had been squared up the over before, chipped an overpitched delivery to Keshav Maharaj at mid-on to depart for a 16-ball duck.
Left-arm seamer Nandre Burger shared the day’s opening duties with Rabada and started off bowling full but in his second over, began a short ball assault to set up on Seales. The first three deliveries of Burger’s third over of the day were increasingly short in length but his fourth was full on the stumps and Seales was struck on the pad and given out lbw.
South Africa could have ended West Indies’ innings on the next ball when Joseph edged Burger to Markram at second slip but he could not hold on to a head height catch. The drop proved costly as Joseph went on to score 25 – but was dropped again on 15 by Mulder a third slip – and provided strong support to Holder, who approached the first hour of play with aggression. Holder hit the last ball of Wiaan Mulder’s first over on the day over long-on for six, to bring up the first half-century of the match and his 14th Test fifty. Joseph took on Burger, and hit his short ball behind square leg and past point and then, just for laughs, sent the full one out the ground. In his first over of the morning, Keshav Maharaj beat Joseph’ sweep and had him out lbw and South Africa were batting again 90 minutes into the day.
