Third Test: South Africa vs. West Indies, Day 3 Review
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, once again, was left fighting a single-handed battle for West Indies following a wretched collapse of its top and the middle order batting that has taken the Calypso kings closer to their latest series drubbing. It was not only South Africa’s stronger position in the game but also the recklessness shown by some of the batsmen that resulted in such a timid capitulation by the West Indies.
South Africa's lead of 115 runs in the first innings was lower than what Graeme Smith had expected. But, it turned out to be a reasonable lead for a batting line that was disengaged by ridiculous shot-attempts in the early stages and complimented by some wily South African spin. The hosts started their 2nd innings on a positive note, with opening duo of Chris Gayle and Dale Richards smashing boundaries with exquisite timing rather than relying on power. But soon afterwards, the innings took a humdrum turn, prompted by a belligerent intent that threw away any fortitude to survive.
Richards initiated his innings by smashing Dale Steyn with a boundary through the covers, and pursued it up by hitting a back-foot strike two overs later. He kept on playing patiently with a “play and miss” approach, hammering streaky boundaries through the gully region. Captain Chris Gayle, standing at the non-strike end kept on walking to his partner frequently to remind him of the situation at hand.
The hosts would have wished to cobble up a sufficient score to challenge South Africa’s domination in the series on a deteriorating track to level the test series. But that intent was lost with the dismissal of the two top order batsmen. Opener Richards handed an easy catch to Petersen when he tried to pull the ball against a fiery Dale Steyn. Narsingh Deonarine, who came at the one-down position, bizarrely tried a ridiculous shot of his first ball only managing to lob the ball straight into the hands of Ashwell Prince who was standing at the short extra-cover position. Though he failed to record a test hat-trick, Steyn surprised Gayle with a sharp delivery which had some extra bounce. It resulted in a healthy edge for wicketkeeper Mark Boucher who gleefully took it with ease.
Chanderpaul and Brendan Nash struggled hard before the tea break but it was only for a limited span of time before the spin bowlers started worrying them by placing the ball into the widening cracks on the track.
Chanderpaul was packed down on a few instances by Johan Botha who was replacing Lonwabo Tsotsobe at the same end. While Chanderpaul saw off a few uncertain moments with the occasional boundary, Nash on the other end found South Africa’s bowling line-up as a difficult proposition.
Quite similar to his performance in the first innings, Paul Harris kept the other end tight with his left-arm spin while bowling in tandem with Johan Botha. The persistence paid off for Harris as he outdid Dwayne Bravo with ease. When Denesh Ramdin was caught behind from a top-spinner from Botha, it looked like the hosts were on their way to a three-day mortification.
But Shane Shillingford and Shivnarine Chanderpaul helped their side with a 53-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Shillingford in the beginning was not at all influential against South Africa’s spin. Neither was he comfortable against a scorching spell from the pacers, who started a short-ball salvo. After a brief struggle, Nash gifted an easy catch that was missed by Steyn. Shillingford gradually gained confidence as he spent more time at the crease. On the other end, Chanderpaul’s half-century helped West Indies wipe out their deficit to some extent.
Earlier the man of second day, Sulieman Benn tortured the lower order of South Africa with his variations, finishing for the third time with five or more wickets in a test innings. Abraham Benjamin de Villiers and Ashwell Prince helped South Africa gain a lead of 115 runs over the hosts. AB de Villiers was caught behind the wicket on a very good delivery by Benn. He scored 73 runs with the help of six boundaries. After de Villiers’ dismissal, no lower order batsman could assist Prince in a successful manner and the entire team was bowled out for 346 runs.
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