Rassie van der Dussen shined bright on a day of toil for South African batsmen as his resolute unbeaten knock of 75 helped close out the window of opportunity for the opposition and set up a stiff chase against the West Indies in the ongoing second Test.
The visitors, who had taken a 149-run first-innings lead, did lose their way for a while and found themselves precariously placed at 73/3, before Dussen, in partnership with Kagiso Rabada, rescued his side to a position to safety.
Rabada once again proved how capable a batsman he is and contributed an invaluable 40 in his 70-run stand with Dussen. Proteas were ultimately dismissed for just 174, but the partnership between Dussen and Rabada ensured the visitors stretched their lead to 323 on a bowler-friendly surface in St Lucia.
Having conceded a lot of ground to the tourists with their poor batting performance on Day 2, West Indies had a fantastic session as a bowling unit after a delayed start to the proceedings because of rain. Experienced Kemar Roach led the way with a brilliant spell that saw him dismiss both the South African openers – Aiden Markram (4) and Dean Elgar (10) – cheaply. Roach later added two more scalps to his kitty.
Keegan Petersen and Dussen batted reasonably well through their stand and looked like reinforcing Proteas’ dominance in the match until the former was done in by gentle medium pace of Kyle Mayers, who may not have liked the conditions in St Lucia too much as a batsman, but has certainly enjoyed them as a bowler.
Mayers also got the wickets of Kyle Verreynne (6) and Wiaan Mulder (0) through his fruitful spell of 3/24. At the other end, apart from the exceptional Roach, West Indies had Jayden Seales (1/34), Jason Holder (1/24) and skipper Kraigg Brathwaite (1/10) taking one wicket each. Holder got the prized scalp of in-form Quinton de Kock for a duck. Shannon Gabriel (0/28) went wicketless through the innings.
After the change of innings, West Indies openers Brathwaite (5*) and Keiran Powell (9*) succeeded at their first task, which was to take their team safely through to stumps on another rain-marred day in Gros Islet. Rabada and Nortje bowled quite well but couldn’t dismiss any of the two batters. Given the weather, it was only a matter before the light meter would come out. And as it happened, the umpires took the players off after only one over of left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj.
Coming back to Dussen and Rabada, the duo would be mighty pleased with their efforts with the bat. For Dussen, who now has the responsibility to be Proteas’ longstanding No.4, it was an innings that should inspire a lot of confidence within and set him up well for future Test assignments. The Proteas don’t have an easy campaign in the next cycle of the World Test Championship, and they’ll need the likes of Dussen to be consistent at home and away.
For Rabada, it was a knock reflecting well on his batting ability, as the ace quick contributed with his secondary skill just when the team needed it. The more time Rabada spent at the crease, the more confident he looked. At one point, he smashed the ever-threatening Roach for a straight six. The left-hander couldn’t get his half-century, but his knock of 40 was as impressive a lower-order batting effort as any.
Brief scores
West Indies 149 & 15/0 (Kraigg Brathwaite 5*, Kieran Powell 9*; Kagiso Rabada 0/5) require 309 more runs to beat South Africa 298 & 174 (Rassie van der Dussen 75*, Kagiso Rabada 40; Kemar Roach 4/52, Kyle Mayers 3/24)
