South Africa vs West Indies 1st Test was full of climaxes and thrill. It was a close call, but in the end, the match ended in a draw, mostly because of the rain and some serious batting by Alick Athanaze from the West Indies.
Alick Athanze missed a well-deserved Century by eight runs
South Africa was really trying to win this one. They batted super fast on the last day and declared their innings early, giving themselves a bit more than two sessions to bowl out the West Indies. But Athanaze, playing just his eighth Test, stepped up and scored a solid 92. He teamed up with Kavem Hodge and Jason Holder to make sure South Africa couldn’t get all their wickets. This Test was actually the first one in a long time (since July last year) that ended in a draw.
South Africa might have some questions to answer, though. They decided to go with an extra batter instead of another bowler, which meant a lot of pressure on Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada. Maharaj bowled a crazy 66.2 overs, and Rabada bowled 30, out of the 148.1 overs the West Indies faced. Other bowlers like Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder didn’t bowl as much, and without a second spinner, they even had Aiden Markram bowl 21 overs.
The pitch at Queen’s Park Oval also made things tough. It was slow, didn’t bounce much, and runs were hard to come by. The pitch was used a lot already this season for club cricket, so it wasn’t in the best shape. Because of that, the game was slow and kind of boring at times, but both teams made the last day interesting with all four possible results on the table.
Maharaj was impressive as he bagged eight wickets in the match
South Africa came out swinging on the fifth morning. Tony de Zorzi and Markram scored quickly, getting 48 runs in just over 10 overs. They really took on Jayden Seales, smashing him for 13 runs in one over. De Zorzi was doing well but tried to get fancy against Jomel Warrican and ended up getting out after scoring 45. He almost scored another half-century but missed out by five runs.
Then Tristan Stubbs came in and looked a bit shaky at first, edging a ball past the slip. But he got comfortable soon and started sweeping Warrican confidently. Markram also went after Warrican, hitting him for a six, but got caught when he tried to do it again. Stubbs, meanwhile, was smashing it, especially against Warrican and even Kemar Roach, scoring 13 runs in three balls before Roach bowled him.
South Africa declared just before lunch, giving their bowlers some time before the rain interrupted. Maharaj struck early, getting Kraigg Brathwaite out with a catch in the deep. Rabada bowled well too, almost getting Keacy Carty out a couple of times, but Carty survived thanks to a review and some luck. After an hour’s break due to rain, Rabada returned with a plan and got Mikyle Louis out with a bouncer.
With Carty and Athanaze batting, South Africa had a chance, but the pair held on and then started scoring freely. Carty got out after adding 46 runs with Athanaze, but Athanaze kept going, hitting the ball all around the ground. He reached his fifty quickly and looked set for a hundred, but then he top-edged a sweep off Maharaj and got caught. By then, though, it was too late for South Africa to win, and the game ended in a draw with just 6.4 overs left.
Read More: Maharaj and Rabada Shine as South Africa Gets Ready to Push for a Win: Windies vs South Africa Day 4
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