Protea's new era started off very well as they scored 314-8 on day 1 of the first test of this series. The day started with Proteas winning the toss and choosing to bat first. The Proteas got off to a great start as Elgar and Markram batted through too Lunch as they put together an opening Partnership of 99 in the morning session.
The afternoon session was again dominated by Proteas as a further 107 added for the loss of 1 wicket. The wicket that fell during the afternoon session was that of Elgar for a well-played 71 off 118. Markram and the debutant De Zorzi then continued to bat untroubled as they put together a partnership of 78 off 127 before De Zorzi ran himself out and this triggered a collapse by Proteas as they lost 7 wickets in the last session of the day.
The Proteas were still able to score as they scored a further 108 runs in the last session. The West Indies had made a good comeback by Stumps Day 1.
The Proteas would add another 28 runs before being bowled out for 342. Day 2 would get better for the Proteas as they managed to restrict the West Indies to 212 all out taking a first innings lead of 130 runs, which would prove to be very important in deciding the match result.
The Proteas in their 2nd innings could only manage 116 as the West Indies gave themselves a chance on a tough pitch. The West Indies would require 247 to win the test match with 2 and a half days of play left. The West Indies got off to the worst possible start as they were reduced to 33-5. Blackwood and de silva then gave the West Indies some hope as the put together a partnership of 58 and then blackwood and Holder shared a partnership of 37 but the Proteas seamers proved to be too good for West Indies as they were eventually bowled out for 159 as the Proteas won the first test by 87 runs.
The Proteas will want to improve their batting in the 2nd test and will hope that the middle order can finally come good at the Dp World Wanderers. The Proteas could include Rickelton into to 11 for the 2nd test dropping Petersen and also dropping Muthusamy for Mulder to Strengthen the batting. The Proteas benefitted from a deep batting order in the first test as the lower order added 52 runs to the total in the first innings which helped in getting that massive first innings lead.
The Proteas will be happy with their start to a new era of test cricket but will know there is a lot of room for improvement.
The West Indies will be disappointed with their performance with bat especially as they were poor throughout the test. Their fielding was also poor as they dropped catches and also allowed the Proteas to make extra runs when they could have cut it off. West Indies will hope to make amends for this in the 2nd test.
Writer: Ebrahim Yusuf Omar
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