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What the red-ball coach from South Africa called “traditional” was what he expected to be attritional cricket in Trinidad, and that’s exactly what the teams provided.
Every South African batter who did not start was Aiden Markram. There were no hundreds, but two players—de Zorzi and captain Temba Bavuma—made half-centuries, and there were four partnerships of fifty or more. The seamers shared five wickets between them, with left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie being the only front-line West Indies bowler to give more than 3.5 runs per over. They did not constantly pose a threat to the batters, but they were disciplined for the most part of the time and occasionally threatening.
That was clear from the first exchanges, in which seasoned West Indies seamers Kemar Roach and Jason Holder were penalised for deviating from the rules and depended on great lengths to keep South Africa silent. Holder dropped it just short in the third over of the day, allowing de Zorzi to dab it behind point for the first boundary. Tristan Stubbs confidently hammered his first and last balls across the covers in the next over after Roach was a bit too full.
Although they were occasionally defeated, South Africa’s second-wicket combination had an early lead that was often easy. With 78 balls, De Zorzi reached his second Test fifty. At number three, Stubbs did not fare as well and did not make use of his feet when Roach angled a length ball in from beyond the crease. Stubbs surged forward with the slip cordon up, and Holder dove across from second slip to grab the catch low.
A leaden-footed Bavuma was met by a pumped Roach, who delivered a delivery that nearly kissed the bat before hitting the outside edge. Throughout that over, he kept Bavuma in the crease, but the South African captain was content to wait.
Any aggression came from de Zorzi, but Bavuma’s approach remained cautious, which makes sense given that this was his first Test innings since March 2023. Twelve minutes before lunch, he undid himself by attempting a second reverse sweep from Jomel Warrican and gloved it to Kavem Hodge at slip, when he would have been looking for his first century.
Following the interval, Bavuma once more let go and let his teammate, David Bedingham, lead the battle into the West Indies. When he double-stepped down the track to club Warrican over long-on and then waited for a delivery from Seales to late-cut it for four, he demonstrated his class.
Bavuma, who advanced down to hit Warrican for four, got his first boundary in 48 balls as a result of this haste. However, he instantly retreated inside himself after Hodge nearly caught a lift off Seales at square leg. Rather, Bedingham succumbed to the lure. Unable to hold Seales down, he despatched him to deep square leg, where Keacy Carty made his debut by diving forward to take the catch.
At that point, Bavuma was on 80 and had only one acknowledged batter, Kyle Verreynne, to help him chase a century. Verreynne faced the first twenty balls of their partnership, which included a beamer from Seales that appeared to cause no harm but struck him in the left glove.
However, Bavuma lost focus when Seales bowled a full toss after two and a half overs. He failed to make the flick, took a blow to the shins, and passed out. He was persuaded to review by Verreynne, but only with optimism. Without scoring his first Test century away from home, his second against the West Indies, or his third career century, he was forced to depart.
Mulder and Kagiso Rabada took them to the brink of that and they will be eyeing slightly more on the third day.