Watch cricket video highlights of South Africa of West Indies 2024 first test between West Indies vs South Africa. Venue of the match will be Port of Spain.
Only 15 overs of play could be completed on the first day of the match between South Africa and the West Indies due to Trinidad’s erratic weather. After 75 overs were lost on the first day, play was called off five minutes into the planned tea break. On the second day, play will restart half an hour early. South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first, hoping to settle into a pitch their captain Temba Bavuma claimed he “did not see a blade of grass on” since they had an extra batter in their XI.
West Indies had to exercise excellent discipline on a lifeless, barren pitch, and the seasoned Kemar Roach delivered. His opening ball, which he got three slips and a gully on, slanted into Aiden Markram and beat him on the back foot, precisely where Roach wanted him. Markram attempted a cover-punch in Roach’s subsequent over, but there was no bounce available, so he was lucky to get the ball over the gully for South Africa’s first boundary. Roach had numbers of 5-3-6-0 after he carried on with his taxing opening performance.
On the opposite side, Tony de Zorzi timed his shot down the court to make a three-pointer and appeared more at ease playing the ball off the front foot against Jayden Seales. Kraigg Braithwaite turned to Gudakesh Motie in the eighth over after Seales, whose speed was in the mid-130 kph area, provided little danger in the opening three overs. Furthermore, de Zorzi could not have asked for more. When Motie flighted his fourth ball, his eyes brightened, and he dropped to one knee to swipe it over midwicket.
After he replicated the shot two balls later, Motie was only left on the field for one more over, during which de Zorzi struck him for four runs, and Braithwaite was replaced by Jason Holder. Recall that Markram had set up camp against Roach back in the crease? He was in that position when Holder’s opening ball came in through the bat-pad gap and took him off stump to retire him for nine runs. In Test cricket, Markram’s previous three first-inning totals have been in the single digits, so as the season progresses, he may wish to address this.
Tristan Stubbs, the new No. 3 for South Africa, moved to the middle after his ejection. At 11:10 a.m. local time, he faced four more balls before the rain started, and he was spot on when he tucked Holder to square leg. Forty minutes later, we had an early lunch as rains came and went. Images of puddle-filled covers and menacingly gray sky were broadcast across the globe two hours later, but the cleanup got underway.
The rain came back just as the umpires were ready to start their rounds, so an inspection at 2 pm was not possible. Forty-five minutes later, it was decided that the day could not be saved. South Africa, who have a light red-ball calendar and haven’t played Test cricket with a first-choice team since January, would be especially disappointed with the result. They have just seven games remaining in this cycle of the World Test Championship after this Test, and all of their series for the 2023–2025 timeframe are restricted to two Tests.
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