Athanaze’s Heroics and Rain Secure Draw for West Indies in 1st Test Against South Africa
Alick Athanaze’s solid batting and frequent rain delays prevented South Africa from winning the opening Test of 2024 against the West Indies in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, although coming dangerously close.
After five days of rain-related overcast, which resulted in the loss of 142 overs, the match finished in a hard-fought tie, the first drawn Test match in 28 years globally since July 2023.
Key Performances and Match Highlights
South Africa 357 (Bavuma 86, De Zorzi 78, Warrican 4-69, Seales 3-67) and 173 for 3 dec (Stubbs 68, de Zorzi 45) drew with West Indies 233 (Carty 42, Holder 36, Maharaj 4-76, Rabada 3-56) and 201 for 5 (Athanaze 92, Holder 31*, Carty 31, Maharaj 4-88) match drawn.
South Africa lost the first Test match against the West Indies in Trinidad by five wickets, mostly due to a lack of ideas, time, and bowlers. South Africa made the most of the last day as they batted quickly, declared early, and gave themselves just over two sessions to bowl out the West Indies, having lost 142 overs due to rain over the course of the five days.
However, in his ninth Test match, Alick Athanaze denied South Africa and salvaged the match with a career-high 92 and had half-century stands with Jason Holder and Kavem Hodge. After 28 games, this was the first drawn Test in history, dating back to July of last year.
Regardless of the weather, South Africa’s selection will come under scrutiny since they were obliged to rely largely on two players and elected to add one extra batsman at the expense of a fifth frontline bowling option. Of the 148.1 West Indies faced in both innings, Keshav Maharaj bowled 66.2 overs and Kagiso Rabada 30; Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder contributed 30.5. Without another experienced spinner, Aiden Markram bowled 21 overs.
A closer look at the Queen’s Park Oval pitch is also possible. The square has been used a lot for club cricket this season, so it was lacking in bounce and pace and did not allow runs to flow freely. Whatever the cause, it led to an attritional style of play that was accentuated by the amount of time wasted, and both sides performed admirably in converting the majority of the final day into a game of cat and mouse in which all four outcomes were feasible.
On the sixth morning, South Africa made it clear what they wanted: runs, and they wanted them fast. Tony de Zorzi and Markram amassed 48 runs in the first 10.2 overs, and their strategy was best demonstrated by the 13 runs they extracted off Jayden Seales’ third over.
De Zorzi looked to be defending the first ball, but he managed to time it perfectly such that it passed over mid-off and nearly reached the boundary, allowing the two to run three. After that, Markram hit two fours off a full one over mid-on after smashing a short ball past midwicket. Their 78-run opening stand required timing, strength, and skill.
De Zorzi attempted to be creative when Jomel Warrican was sent on in the 16th over and successfully paddled him away, but he gloved a leg-stump delivery to Joshua Da Silva, ending his 60-ball stay. In this Test, he was five runs shy of consecutive half-centuries but has established himself as a bold opening option.
Holder was frustrated when Tristan Stubbs, batting at number three, edged the fourth ball he faced past the lone slip. However, Stubbs quickly calmed Holder down by sweeping Warrican in the following over. He made money on the sweep shot, and Warrican was an obvious target. Markram once struck Warrican for six over long-on, but when he attempted it again, he was caught on the boundary by Holder because he was unable to get enough behind the shot.
Temba Bavuma maintained his No. 4 position and gave Stubbs a counterbalance, allowing him to have a field day. In order to smash Warrican over the leg side with a reverse sweep, he moved on him and scored 36 runs off of the 25 balls he faced from him.
By reaching his first Test fifty off 42 balls in the process, he became the second-fastest South African to achieve a half-century without hitting a ball behind Dudley Nourse’s 40-ball fifty on his debut. Additionally, Stubbs faced senior seamer Kemar Roach, hitting 13 runs off of three deliveries from him before Roach removed his leg stump and South Africa made their declaration 30 minutes before lunch.
In the first session, they granted their bowlers twenty minutes, but they barely got fifteen before the rain started. When Maharaj took the bowl first, he got the typically calm Kraigg Braithwaite to attempt a big shot off a full ball, which was caught at sweeper cover, with his third ball. In order to hold onto the catch, Stubbs judged his sprint from the boundary well.
Rabada tested Keacy Carty on the opposite end, beating his outside edge and nearly forcing him to play on, giving the impression that he had him covered but failing to do so. After that, he looked over an LBW appeal that struck Carty’s front pad in an off-stump line. Ball-tracking revealed that it was brushing the top during the umpire’s call, and Carty made it through, although rain soon followed.
After a one-hour break, Rabada reappeared with a strategy in hand. He bowled a short delivery after setting up Mikyle Louis with a string of full deliveries, including a magnificent yorker that was smartly kept out. Louis found Stubbs at midwicket after getting a top edge, but Stubbs managed to hold on to a second superb catch.
South Africa would have liked to take advantage of Carty and Athanaze’s inexperience at the crease, but the young duo not only made it through, but flourished. After Athanaze got used to sweeping, Carty scored 12 runs in Ngidi’s second over. After Carty drove Maharaj towards cover, Mulder lunged out to grab a low catch, extending the third-wicket stand to 46.
In the second session, South Africa failed to force West Indies to open and gave up two opportunities. On ball nine, Hodge offered Markram a return catch. On ball twenty-four, just before tea, he made it through when he gloved a Maharaj delivery towards Bavuma at second slip. The ball managed to get past Bavuma as he moved to his right. In the first over following tea, Maharaj found turn and bounce, and Hodge gave Kyle Verreynne the thinnest of edges, ending Hodge’s dance with danger.
Athanaze, though, was a formidable opponent for the short ball and was not easily moved. He challenged South Africa’s top bowlers and easily reached 50 off 58 balls. Before he top-edged a sweep from Maharaj to Ryan Rickelton at deep-backward square leg, he had three figures in his sights after scoring 18 runs off 19 balls from Rabada and 47 off 62 balls from Maharaj. By that point, the West Indies had established a secure base, and South Africa could no longer pursue a resolution. With 6.4 overs remained in the dying light, the captains shook hands on a draw.
