Ken Borland

Following the outstanding support given to the bowlers in the field – especially in terms of slip-catching – in South Africa’s innings win over the West Indies in the first Test, one could excuse Proteas fielding coach Justin Ontong for feeling quite peaceful that all is well in his area of focus.

But that is not the case, Ontong insisted on Tuesday, as he stated the Proteas’ desire is to set even higher benchmarks for their catching and fielding. Much like their great rivals residing in the Pacific Ocean who dominated international cricket while Ontong was playing, South Africa have almost always relied on pace and seam bowling for their successes. And having quality slip fielding to back that up is crucial, just as Australia did with the likes of Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting in the cordon.

The Proteas were faultless in the slips in the first Test, with Wiaan Mulder (4) and Aiden Markram (3) taking seven catches between them.

“The fielding has come under criticism and there has been a big emphasis on getting it right. The guys delivered what we asked for and the slip-catching was outstanding. We’ve lost Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla, who played a huge part in the slips, so there was some new personnel in there and on a pitch that was assisting the seamers we knew the catching behind the wicket was going to be a crucial aspect.

“It’s about getting the right guys in the right positions and Aiden and Wiaan were exceptional at second and third and then we have Dean Elgar at first slip. We have set very high standards and hopefully we can maintain those. We’re trying to sharpen the slip-catching again for the second Test. It’s a big emphasis because Test cricket is about taking 20 wickets and to do that you have to hold your catches,” Ontong said.

It seems almost a lifetime ago since South Africa, once the leaders in winning away from home, won a Test series on the road. Should the Proteas win or draw the second Test, they will have their first away series win since triumphing in New Zealand in March 2017.

“The team is longing for a series win, that would be huge because we want to make people back home proud, and we especially want to get some wins away from home. That’s massive for a young team. We are in a very good space at the moment, but we need to keep doing the small things that will make us world-class. The last Test was a big relief.

“What a win it was and we were brilliant in all three departments. It’s quite difficult to follow that but the standards have now been set. We know it will not be so easy from Friday, so even harder work is being done by us this week,” Ontong added.

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 endured a 39-month break between five-wicket hauls before taking five for 34 on Saturday to wrap up an innings win for the Proteas in the first Test against the West Indies, but the fast bowler said even though he was relieved to end that dry spell, the failure to notch the statistical landmark was not frustrating for him.

“Cricket is a game where you’re measured by the highest accolades like scoring hundreds or taking five and 10-fors, so you always strive to do that, but it’s not like you’re looking for that or desperate for it because sometimes you can bowl really well and not get any wickets. It’s an old cliché but they do tend to repeat themselves.

“Unfortunately I haven’t been able to do the five-for thing for the last couple of years but I knew I just had to be consistent in my preparation. But I am quite relieved to get it, it’s like scoring a hundred, who wouldn’t be happy? I was really glad with my performance, but without the support of my team-mates this wouldn’t have happened.

“With Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje bowling exceptionally well and the batsmen coming to the party and putting runs on the board, this makes it easier for me. I just try and control what I can control and the cricketing gods were smiling at me today,” Rabada said after his 10^th five-wicket haul in just 46 Tests.

He is the seventh South African to join that club and he said the Proteas, by returning to basics and playing as a team, were ruthless as they battered the West Indies into submission.

“This game can be unforgiving but we have just tried to be consistent in our preparation and we’ve established how we want to play. And we stick to that. And if you do that then luck tends to be on your side more often than not. In previous games we were probably lacking in important periods, we let the game slip away. We would be good in patches and at other times quite sloppy.

“We’ve identified the moments in the past when we slackened off and in this Test we kept our foot on the throttle. We are a young team, we are rebuilding, and we will take a lot of confidence from this performance. We must keep building on what we have established in this Test and we will stick to our processes and not take anything for granted,” Rabada 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.