OBAKENG MELETSE
The Proteas made great strides ahead of their home summer in the first Test match against the West Indies, although rain claimed top honours in the drawn match at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday.
South Africa held all the cards and they had the home side on the ropes, but they had to battle other external factors, including a race against time to get 10 West Indies wickets, and it wasn’t to be.
The match went close to 300 overs through the five days, and even though there was no winning result, it lasted long enough for Shukri Conrad to tick a few boxes heading into the next Test later this week and also the upcoming inbound tours.
These were the four standout moments in the first Test.
De Zorzi stamps his authority
The 26-year-old Tony de Zorzi was promoted to open the batting following the retirement of Dean Elgar, and having spend most of his Test career coming in at No 3, he seemed a perfect fit at the top of the order.
The Proteas have not only maintained the right and left batter combinations, but his two outings in the first Test showed a different side to his game, and it entailed a lot of positive intent early on in the innings.
The Western Province batsman has already surpassed his score of 114 runs across the two Test matches played by these two sides last year, and he is currently on 123 runs after the first match. He could be a key member of the team moving forward.
The impact of Stubbs
Tristan Stubbs not only occupies an important batting position in the team, but he brings in the X-factor the Proteas have lacked for a long time. Naturally an attack-minded player, his biggest test will be to survive the new ball and then bring out his natural game.
The 23-year-old hit an impressive 68 off 50 balls in the second innings in helping South Africa to quickly accumulate runs and set a target against the home side. His innings gave a glimpse of what the future might hold, with his ability to move the game forward on full display.
Maharaj’s brilliance and the missing bowler
Keshav Maharaj, the 34-year left-arm spinner, has been one of the leading spinners in South Africa and around the world in recent times. His exploits in the match solidified his brilliance once again after South Africa went into the contest with seven batters. Player-of-the-Match Maharaj was one of five bowlers that had to carry most of the weight and his 66.2 overs in the match produced eight wickets.
The selection of the extra batter seems to have worked, but it comes with risks. The Proteas used the services of Aiden Markram as the fifth bowler but against the top sides, or if one of the bowlers gets injured, this could be an area that could be harshly exposed. But so far, so good.
Failure to convert starts into big scores
South Africa lost their fifth wicket with the score on 244 in the first innings. They scored a total of 357 all out with two batters managing to make scored of 70-plus. They had a good score within their reach, but they fell well short. The last time they made a 400-plus score (453 all out) was in the 2021/22 season at home against Bangladesh.