Ken Borland

While the superb pace trio of Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi have quite rightly been lauded for the damages they inflicted on the West Indies batting as the Proteas swept to an innings victory in the first Test at St Lucia, South Africa captain Dean Elgar also pointed to the efforts of the batsmen as being worthy of praise.

Nortje, the enforcer bowling with nasty venom, enjoyed match figures of seven for 81, while Ngidi took five for 19 in the first innings and Rabada then finished off the home side with five for 34 in their second knock.

But on a spicy pitch on which the seam bowlers threatened throughout, the embattled Proteas batsmen did very well to post 322 in their only innings. Quinton de Kock’s magnificent 141 not out, with 12 fours and seven sixes, rightfully stole the limelight and earned him the man of the match award, but Aiden Markram (60) and Rassie van der Dussen (46) made sure he had something of a platform to build on.

Wiaan Mulder and Nortje then shared important partnerships with De Kock to bat the West Indies out of the game with a first-innings lead of 225. Even debutant Keegan Petersen may have only scored 19, but he came to the crease in the first over and batted positively for 40 minutes to keep the home side from making more early breakthroughs.

“The bowlers were assisted in quite a big way by the pitch, conditions were very favourable for seam bowling, and our batsmen managed to score more than 300 so credit must go to them as well. Quinny was just brilliant, showing what a world-class cricketer he is, and Aiden and Rassie applied themselves well too,” Elgar said.

But it was the bowlers who stole the show as they did not get carried away by the helpful conditions or ever stray from the simple disciplines the new full-time skipper wanted – like keeping to the channel just outside off-stump and forcing the batsmen to decide whether to play or leave a ball that cold move either way, which the pacemen did superbly.

“Lungi, Anrich and KG were brilliant with the ball and Kesha Maharaj chipped in really nicely on the third day. It was a proper, professional approach and the team were clinical and ruthless. It was a bit more of the old-school South African style, which I wanted. I know it’s in us, we just need to get it out. It was a collective effort and I know the effort it took, so we won’t take this win for granted.

“It’s nice when everything comes together, I asked for individuals to get accolades and we had a century and two five-fors. Our bowling attack put down their stamp of authority, which we’ve been struggling to do. The basics of bowling applied on that pitch, we had to execute our skills and utilise the facilities. We have a great balance in our attack at the moment,” Elgar said.

Kagiso Rabada finally enjoyed his day in the sun as he spearheaded South Africa’s efforts to wrap up the first Test against the West Indies on the third day at St Lucia on Saturday, taking five for 34 as the Proteas won by an innings and 63 runs.

Rabada bowled superbly without much luck in the first innings, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje taking the honours as the West Indies were bundled out for just 97, their lowest ever score against South Africa. But in the second innings the 26-year-old gained reward for his skill, fire and accuracy, as he claimed his first five-wicket haul since taking 11 wickets in the epic win over Australia in Port Elizabeth in March 2018.

Rabada began what became the final day with figures of two for 18 in 10 overs, with the West Indies on 82 for four and still 143 behind. And he made the first breakthrough with a clever piece of cricket as a surprise full ball saw Jermain Blackwood driving straight to a well-placed short extra cover, Rassie van der Dusen taking a good low catch. That ended a partnership of 46 with Roston Chase.

He then returned shortly before the scheduled lunch break to dismiss Rahkeem Cornwall, also caught on the drive, for a duck and then, with the break delayed due to eight wickets being down, he bowled the stubborn Joshua de Silva (9), who shouldered arms to an inswinger and lost his off stump.

Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who bowled just four overs in the first innings, chipped in with two wickets, bowling both Jason Holder (4) and Chase for a determined 62.

The hosts sit with a massive problem when it comes to their batting because Chase was their only batsman to sore more than 20 in the match. Holder top-scored in the dismal first-innings with 20.

Nortje claimed three wickets, including the last to fall –  Jayden Seales caught by the safe hands of Wiaan Mulder in the slips – to finish with seven in the match and he was very much the enforcer in a South African attack that looked most accomplished and not out of place with some of the best bowling line-ups in the world.

This is only the second time South Africa have beaten the West Indies by an innings in the Caribbean, the previous occasion coming in 2005 when they beat them by an innings and 86 runs in Bridgetown, the capital city of Barbados. The Proteas have beaten the West Indies by an innings on three occasions at home.

Lungi Ngidi exploited a pitch with some life in it in superb style on the opening day of the first Test against the West Indies at St Lucia, taking five for 19 in 13.5 overs as the hosts were bundled out for their lowest ever total against South Africa – a dismal 97 all out.

While the pitch continued to provide movement and there was swing in the air all through the first day, it was tremendous discipline and the many hours of skills work that Ngidi has been putting in that financed his first five-wicket haul in an innings since he took six for 39 on debut against India in January 2018.

Ngidi, like all the South African fast bowlers, bowled a superb line, sticking consistently to the channel just outside off stump, and his length was also excellent. It meant that the West Indies batsmen were unable to score easily and, with the movement on offer, any expansive strokeplay outside off-stump was very risky.

“You were never really in as a batsman, but it felt good to get a five-for because it’s been a long time since I got one. My Test spot was in doubt and it’s still a work in progress, but behind the scenes I’ve had to work very hard on my fitness and in the gym, but the most important thing was working on my skill. To be able to swing the ball away from the batsman now has been very useful.

“You can get carried away when there’s nip and swing, but my role-definition is very clear – my job was to keep one end quiet, not give them anything. I just tried to zone in on off-stump and I felt more comfortable after lunch, my rhythm clicked in the afternoon and I love the Dukes ball because it seems to still swing after a long time,” said Ngidi, who took five for nine in 6.5 overs in the second session.

Anrich Nortje was the co-conspirator in the rout of the West Indies, bowling superbly in the morning session as he took three for eight in six overs and finished with four for 35 in 11. Ngidi, employing more subtle skills than the fast and furious Nortje, said the focus of the South African attack was to work together as a unit, something they certainly achieved.

“I’ve been working a lot together with Anrich, pretty much being trying to hunt together with him. To see him take on the top-order like he did was what we hoped for and he got us off to the perfect start. I just tried to keep applying pressure. Kagiso Rabada really had them under pressure as well, which should not go unnoticed.

“Hunting together is what we’re trying to restore as a bowling unit and we’ve made the perfect start to this series,” Ngidi said.

Keegan Petersen and Kyle Verreynne may have felt like they were frozen out of the Test team given how long they have had to wait for their chance, but like London Buses two gaps have come along at the same time and they have both made their debut in the first Test between South Africa and the West Indies at St Lucia.

Petersen has been part of the squad since December 2019 and Verreynne was first called up in ODI cricket a couple of months later. They have both come through the fertile ground of Western Cape cricket, although Petersen comes from the Boland and Verreynne hails from Wynberg Boys High School and Western Province Schools.

With the West Indies winning the toss and choosing to bat first, they will be hoping the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium pitch becomes nice and flat as they look to make their mark in a South African batting line-up that has lost a vast amount of experience in the last few years. Petersen is the replacement for retired former captain Faf du Plessis and Verreynne gets his chance due to new vice-captain Temba Bavuma having a hip injury.

The 27-year-old Petersen has been pretty much permanently piling on the runs in franchise cricket in the last four seasons. In that time he has not once averaged less than 44 and has posted eight centuries in 39 matches for the Knights and Dolphins, who he joined last season. He left the Cape Cobras in 2017 due to limited opportunities, the elegant right-hander playing only seven matches for them.

While there has been disappointment in some quarters that Verreynne has had to wait until now for his Test debut, as the back-up wicketkeeper to Quinton de Kock his chances are always going to be limited. But four hundreds and 16 fifties in 32 matches for the Cobras are not to be scoffed at, and many of those big innings have come when the Cobras have been struggling and conditions are hard.

The 24-year-old embodies the grit and determination so many South African middle-order batsmen are famous for and he will want to lift what has been a disappointing output by the Proteas batsmen recently.