Verreynne's unbeaten 50 puts Proteas in charge of second Test

South Africa may hold the upper-hand at the end of day two of the second Test against West Indies in Guyana, but gaining that advantage has been far from easy, and the inability of the batters to assert themselves continues to hamper their development as a Test side. 

The Proteas have a 239-run lead after a more sedate day’s play compared to Thursday, when 17 wickets fell in seam friendly conditions at the National Stadium in Guyana. South Africa will resume Saturday on 223/5 after Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder shared a crucial and as yet unbeaten stand of 84 for the sixth wicket.

Verreynne made a brisk 50 not out late on the second day to lift SA’s lead passed 200 runs after the batters ahead of him had allowed themselves to become locked down by a disciplined West Indies attack. Mulder, who hit the penultimate ball of the day for six, will resume on 34 on Saturday.

Before the Test, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma had talked of the patience that will be needed as a young batting unit gets to grips with the demands of Test cricket. They would like to play in a more aggressive manner but in both Tests in this series have allowed periods where ‘nothing’ happens to dictate the course of the match. 

Friday saw a bright start by openers Aiden Markram and Tony de Zorzi in which they reached 72/0 in 14 overs, building on a 16-run lead the Proteas took from the first innings. However rather than continue to dominate, the Proteas allowed the West Indies back into the match through a passive period of batting leading up to the tea break. 

They scored just 39 runs in the next 21 overs before the interval, and while Jason Holder and Jayden Seales deserve credit for the consistency of line and length they showed, SA’s batters didn’t do enough to revert the pressure. 

The inability to take singles, especially against spinner Gudakesh Motie, allowed long periods where the West Indies could just bowl at the South Africans with relatively straight fields and dry up the runs. 

In addition there were soft dismissals. De Zorzi, after a period in which he seemed to lose his alignment, wafted at a delivery from Seales, to once again lose his wicket to a right hand bowler delivering from around the wicket. 

De Zorzi made 39, sharing a partnership of 79 with Markram, who also found himself stuck in a rut. While Markram went onto register his first half century in an overseas Test in three years, it was an innings that lacked his usual fluency. Shortly after reaching that landmark, he was trapped lbw by Motie, by a ball that rushed him and kept low. Markram’s 51 came off 108 balls and included six fours. 

Having got themselves tied down, the Proteas then lost four wickets for 19 runs in 10 overs, raising West Indies’ belief, until Verreynne’s impact in the final session. Although the Proteas wicketkeeper had moments of good fortune, those were deserved because unlike his teammates earlier he was looking to score. 

Earlier Jason Holder’s unbeaten 54 and two dropped catches in the slips, saw the West Indies narrow SA’s first innings advantage to just 16 runs. 

Resuming on 97/7, the West Indies lost two early wickets, and were 104/9 when Markram dropped Shamar Joseph, first ball at second slip. Joseph, still buoyed by his first innings five wicket haul opened his shoulders thereafter, scoring 25 in a partnership of 40 with Holder. 

He also survived an opportunity on 15 when he was dropped by a diving Mulder at third slip. Those missed chances would have made SA’s advantage even bigger at the end of the day, but a more assertive mindset and approach with the bat could have done the same too.