Proteas close in on victory at tea despite Blackwood resistance

The Proteas closed in on an opening Test win over the West Indies at tea on day three, with the visitors on 93/6 at the break, still needing 154-runs to win the match at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.

 This was despite a fighting counter-attacking half century from Jermaine Blackwood, who was unbeaten at the crease on 52 off 56 balls, having struck eight fours and one six.

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The Proteas will however be confident of emerging after tea and cleaning up the last four wickets to seal the win.

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 Anrich Nortje, Kagiso 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 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.

Early breakthrough

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 11^th Test five wicket haul, finishing with figures of 5/47.