Tea West Indies 212 and 93 of 6 (Blackwood 52*, Holder 1*, Rabada 3-19, Jansen 2-30) need another 154 runs to win South Africa 342 and 116 (Markram 47, Roach 5-47)
However, the mood and pace of the match changed quickly as Rabada played on either side of the lunch break. After captain Kraigg Brathwaite caught the side of the leg for a duck, Rabada pulled an outside lead from Raymon Reifer.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul kept playing and missing complete balls, but she wasn’t particularly nervous against that length. It was the short ball that bothered him. She fell backwards twice as she tried to grapple them and then when she dared to hook a bouncer high over Jansen’s head, she was only able to out midwicket him by 10.
Roston Chase misjudged a Jansen swing and was castled after failing to offer a shot. Then, when Coetzee pulled out an extra rebound to get rid of Kyle Mayers, the West Indies were 33 for 5 in 15th.
Blackwood came on and bowled the seventh ball he faced, off Rabada, over square leg for four. He continued to regularly pump the ball over the top, escaping to a 51-ball half-century. At the other end, Joshua Da Silva was more circumspect, contributing 17 to a 58-run sixth-wicket partnership before falling to Rabada.
The day had started on a more promising note for the West Indies. Roach struck with his first ball to cut Aiden Markram’s innings short at 47 for 58. He slipped out of the crease, tricking Markram into playing into the inside corner from over the wicket, but got him to straighten late at the seam and brush the Outer edge. . Marais Erasmus, the field referee, did not initially rule Markram out, but opted to return to the locker room. In his next over, Roach slipped out of the crease again, but this time he beat Jansen’s outside edge and hit the top of the stump.
Roach also helped to cut the South African tail, but Coetzee’s gutsy cameo (20 from 15 balls) brought his lead closer to 250, which looked much bigger once the West Indies top order collapsed on the cheap once again. on a track that offered variable bounce.
