South Africa need four wickets to win first Test against Windies

Jermaine Blackwood launched a stirring fightback, but couldn’t haul his side out of the mire with South Africa needing just four more wickets to wrap up the first Test.

The West Indies went to tea on 93/6, with Blackwood on 52, which has come off only 56 balls. The rest of the West Indies batting has been a calamity.

Having lost skipper Kraigg Brathwaite before lunch, the West Indies disintegrated after the break. Raymon Reifer, so disciplined in scoring a first innings half-century, threw his bat at wide delivery from Kagiso Rabada with Heinrich Klaasen taking a fine catch diving in front of the slips.

A few overs later Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who’d already survived a chance when Keegan Petersen dropped him at third slip, gave his wicket away with the most awful shot, toe-ending a hook against Marco Jansen with Anrich Nortjé sliding in from mid-on to take an easy catch.

It was a stroke that was the complete opposite of the manner he’d played up to then — or even for most of his first innings. So compact and watchful, once he’d seen off the spells from Nortje and Rabada it was as if he felt the need to attack, whichever SA bowler came next.

It’s certainly not a shot you’d have seen his father, Shivnarine, play. Roston Chase was bowled first ball by Jansen, leaving a delivery he thought was going straight across him but that instead held its line and hit the top of off-stump.

Kyle Mayers hung around for 15 balls but was caught at first slip. Blackwood offered superb resistance mixing solid defence with some explosive striking that included a six and eight fours.

A partnership of 58 with Joshua da Silva may have had the Proteas concerned, given they were picking up runs fairly comfortably, but then Rabada returned shortly before tea and induced a reckless shot from Da Silva, who drove at a wide ball, the edge flying to Petersen at third slip.

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.