Kagiso Rabada took six wickets as South Africa recovered from a batting collapse on day three to beat West Indies by 87 runs in the first Test in Centurion.
A haul of 6-50 from Rabada carried the hosts home as West Indies were bowled out for 159 in their second innings, with Jermaine Blackwood's terrific 79 from 93 balls providing the chief resistance.
The SuperSport Park crowd had seen South Africa fall from their overnight 49-4 to 116 all out in the morning session, with Aiden Markram following his century in the first innings with 47 as only two others reached double figures.
Kemar Roach took 5-47, with Markram among his victims, to fuel hopes of a first Test win for West Indies against South Africa since December 2007.
Yet momentum began to tilt back the Proteas' way when West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite fell to Rabada just before lunch, before any runs went on the board in the chase.
The tourists needed 247, but a wretched start saw them crumble to 20-4 and left the middle and lower order with a cliff face to climb.
Rabada had Brathwaite and Raymon Reifer caught behind by Heinrich Klaasen, before Marco Jansen drew a badly timed hook from Tagenarine Chanderpaul and then bowled Roston Chase with the next ball.
They were 33-5 when Gerald Coetzee had Kyle Mayers taken at slip, and it was only Blackwood keeping West Indies in the game.
He delivered a sparkling innings that nobody else could match, with Joshua Da Silva (17) and Jason Holder (18) briefly joining him in handy stands, but both fell to edges off Rabada.
Eventually, so too did Blackwood, a fiery delivery from Rabada into the body jabbed to Markram at second slip.
That gave South Africa a ninth wicket and it was effectively job done with the dangerman out of the way. Rabada duly wrapped it up, pinning Roach lbw.
Rabada hits Windies for six
This was Rabada's first six-wicket haul in Tests since taking 6-54 against Australia in March 2018, and his three best innings performances have all now come at Centurion. This ranks third on the list, behind the 7-112 and 6-32 that he took in the same game against England in January 2016.
It was not enough for man-of-the-match honours this time, though, with Markram taking that award.
Proteas keep rivalry one-sided
South Africa led by 130 after the first innings of this match, meaning their dismal display with the bat second time around did not prove too costly. The result means they are now unbeaten against West Indies in their last 11 Tests (W9 D2), with this a fourth victory on the bounce. Indeed, all four matches between these sides at SuperSport Park have been won by the hosts.
Home captain Temba Bavuma made a pair of ducks in his first game as skipper, but got away with it. The second and final Test of this series begins at the Wanderers in Johannesburg next Wednesday.
West Indies claim first home ODI series win over England since 1998 with four-wicket win via DLS method in third ODI
The West Indies claimed their first home ODI series win over England since 1998 with a four-wicket win via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in the decisive third ODI at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.
In a match eventually reduced to 40 overs per side after rain interruptions before and during the match, England recovered from a horrific first ten overs to post 206-9 from their 40 overs after being put in to bat by West Indian skipper Shai Hope.
Debutant Matthew Forde got proceedings off to the best possible start for the West Indies with the wicket of Phil Salt for just four at the end of the first over.
Not long after, Forde was at it again, picking up the wickets of Zak Crawley (0) and Will Jacks (17) to leave England struggling at 45-3 at the start of the ninth over.
45-3 became 48-4 in the 10th over when Alzarri Joseph brilliantly ran out Harry Brook off his own bowling for one.
England captain Jos Buttler, fresh off a half-century in the last game, lasted only one ball on Saturday.
Joseph greeted Buttler with a well-directed short ball that he was unable to control, helping the ball out to Gudakesh Motie on the deep square leg boundary for a simple catch to leave England 49-5 after 10 overs of the rain-shortened 43 overs per side contest.
An 88-run sixth wicket partnership between Ben Duckett and Liam Livingstone provided some stability to the English effort before Duckett fell for a well-played 73-ball 71 in the 26th over. His knock included six fours and one six.
Livingstone was next to go two overs later, caught by Sherfane Rutherford at mid-on off the bowling of Romario Shepherd for 45 to leave England 142-7.
With England 161-7 off 33 overs, the rains came once again. Soon after the restart, England lost their eighth wicket when Rehan Ahmed fell caught behind off the bowling of Alzarri Joseph for 15 to leave the score 166-8 in the 34th over.
Joseph picked up his third wicket when he had Sam Curran caught on the point boundary by Gudakesh Motie for 12 to leave England 171-9 in the 36th over.
In the end, a 35-run 10th wicket partnership between Gus Atkinson (20*) and Matthew Potts (15*) helped England reach 206-9.
Forde ended with 3-29 from his eight overs while Joseph was expensive, going for 61 from his eight overs with three wickets to his name.
A third rain delay during the innings break meant the West Indies had a revised target of 188 from 34 overs.
The chase got off to the worst possible start when Brandon King was caught at cover off the bowling of Gus Atkinson for just one in the second over.
Alick Athanaze and Keacy Carty then put together a solid 76-run second wicket partnership that ended when Atkinson trapped Athanaze in front for a 51-ball 45 in the 14th over.
Captain Shai Hope was next to go, caught brilliantly by Matthew Potts off the bowling of Rehan Ahmed for 15 to leave the West Indies 99-3 in the 17th over.
Then, with the West Indies cruising needing 72 from 78 balls, Shimron Hetmyer mistimed a ball straight into the hands of Phil Salt at point for 11 off the bowling of Will Jacks.
The West Indies quickly lost another one when Sherfane Rutherford held out to Zak Crawley at long on off Jacks’ bowling for three to leave the score at 122-5 after 23.2 overs leaving the hosts needing 66 runs from 64 balls.
Carty, two balls after bringing up an excellent half century, became Jacks’ third victim in quick succession caught and bowled to leave the West Indies 135-6 needing 53 runs from 50 balls.
The 31st proved to be the ultimate game changer for the West Indies. The over bowled by Gus Atkinson went for 24 to leave them needing just nine more to win from the final three overs.
In the end, Romario Shepherd (41*) and Matthew Forde (13*) steered the West Indies to 191-6 off 31.4 overs to seal the 2-1 series win.
Will Jacks tried his best for England with 3-22 from his seven overs while Gus Atkinson ended with 2058 from his six overs.
Full Scores:
England 206-9 off 40 overs (Ben Duckett 71, Liam Livingston 45, Matthew Forde 3-29, Alzarri Joseph 3-61, Romario Shepherd 2-50)
West Indies 191-6 off 31.4 overs (Keacy Carty 50, Alick Athanaze 45, Romario Shepherd 41*, Will Jacks 3-22, Gus Atkinson 2-58)
Russell returns as West Indies squad revealed for T20I Series vs England
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) Senior Selection Panel has named the 15-man squad to play against England in the first three matches of the five-match T20 International (T20I) series from 12 to 21 December. It marks the first time that both nations will be going head-to-head in a T20I series during the festive season as West Indies come home for Christmas. The West Indies T20I squad return to action after their thrilling 3-2 Series win against India in August.
Matthew Forde is selected for the T20I squad for the first time, having impressed with the new ball throughout the past two CPL seasons and this follows his recent selection for the West Indies ODI squad. Sherfane Rutherford is also selected and returns to the squad after last representing the regional side in January of 2020. Gudakesh Motie returns to the T20I squad after recovering from injury which caused him to miss selection for the India Series.
The T20I squad also sees the return of all-rounder, Andre Russell, who last played for the Men in Maroon at the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE. Johnson Charles, Obed McCoy, Odean Smith and Oshane Thomas miss out on selection after featuring in the previous T20I squad.
Shai Hope becomes the vice-captain of the T20I team, to add to his role as captain of the West Indies ODI team. The Selection Panel has the opportunity for squad adjustments ahead of the final two matches of the Series to be played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on from 19 to 21 December.
Speaking about the composition of the squad, CWI lead selector, the Honorable Dr. Desmond Haynes said: “This will be the final home T20I series for the West Indies in 2023, as they prepare to be one of the two host teams for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA in June 2024. We have selected a squad that we think gives us the best chance of success in that tournament. We will continue to assess in the lead up to the competition."
Fans can purchase tickets online and in advance from the Windies Tickets service, presented by MasterCard. Fans can save up to 20% on tickets when they purchase online in advance and local fans can benefit from other promotions and benefits. West Indies fans can also benefit from a further saving thanks to Mastercard, West Indies official payments partner. Caribbean fans who register with a Caribbean address and a Caribbean-bank issued Mastercard, can benefit from a further 20% off selected tickets when visting the following link: https://www.windiescricket.com/news/west-indies-fans-to-benefit-from-special-mastercard-ticket-promotion-as-official-partner-of-the-west-indies/
Venue box offices are open at least 5 days in advance of each match.
Catch the action live in the Caribbean on Rush, the Flow Sports App, or the Sportsmax App and on TNT Sports in the UK. Visit the windiescricket.com website for further details on the live broadcast with our other media partners around the world.
FULL SQUAD
West Indies v England T20I Series Schedule (Match start time in brackets)
1st T20I – 12 December – Kensington Oval, Barbados (6.00pm local time/5.00pm Jamaica time)
2nd T20I – 14 December – National Stadium, Grenada (1:30pm local time/12.30pm Jamaica time)
3rd T20I – 16 December – National Stadium, Grenada (1:30pm local time/12.30pm Jamaica time)
4th T20I – 19 December – Brian Lara Academy, Trinidad (4:00pm local time/3.00pm Jamaica time)
5th T20I – 21 December – Brian Lara Academy, Trinidad (4:00pm local time/12.30pm Jamaica time)
Stadium gates open two hours before first ball is bowled.
Narine and Asif Ali lead New York Strikers to Abu Dhabi T10 title
Deccan Gladiators' hopes of a hat-trick of Abu Dhabi T10 titles were dashed by New York Strikers, who put in a fantastic bowling display led by Sunil Narine in the final to romp home by seven wickets with four balls in hand on Saturday.
Big scores had gone down as the tournament wore on, but Gladiators' 91 for 5 after being sent in appeared insufficient for the big occasion. It proved to be exactly that, despite Strikers being 7 for 2 in 1.1 overs, with openers Muhammad Waseem and Rahmanullah Gurbaz dismissed cheaply.
Niroshan Dickwella and Asif Ali, the Player of the Match, put the innings back on track, before Dickwella was sent back by Andre Russell for a 12-ball 14. From there on, it was all about Asif and captain Kieron Pollard, who put up 56 runs together without much scoreboard pressure to weigh them down.
Asif scored 48 not out in 25 balls with two fours and four sixes, and Pollard chipped in with 22 not out in 13, with a four and six, as Strikers won the title.
The win was set up by the bowlers, though. Gladiators had a decent opening stand of 28 with Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Nicholas Pooran, the No. 1 and No. 3 on the tournament run-scorers' list, but Narine broke through in the third over with Kohler-Cadmore's wicket for a seven-ball 13. Pooran fell to George Scrimshaw two balls later, and Gladiators were suddenly 28 for 2, which became 36 for 3, 41 for 4, and 57 for 5 after 7.1 overs, with Narine returning 2 for 6 from his two overs without conceding a single boundary.
Russell, who finished with an unbeaten 30 from 18 balls with two fours and two sixes, and David Wiese, 20 not out from 11, with a four and two sixes, completed the innings with some momentum, but it was too few for Gladiators to defend on the night.
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