Alick Athanaze leads West Indies to draw first South Africa Test

PORT OF SPAIN: Alick Athanaze played a fighting knock to help West Indies secure a draw on the final day of the first Test against South Africa at Queen’s Park Oval.

On a rain-effected fifth day, while chasing a target of 298 runs, the hosts found themselves struggling at 64-3.

However, Athanaze played a brilliant 92-run knock, during which he added a crucial 65 runs for the fifth wicket with Jason Holder to force the draw.

Athanaze fell prey to Keshav Maharaj in the dying moments of the first of the two-match Test series, while Holder remained unbeaten at 31.

West Indies scored 201-5 before both teams agreed to settle for the draw. Maharaj led the bowling for South Africa with 4-88, while Kagiso Rabada picked one.

Maharaj praised Athanaze for his knock after the end of the game.

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“It was just about dragging the length back and trying to exploit the rough outside his off-stump,” said player of the match Maharaj in explaining his plan to claim Athanaze’s wicket.

“Full credit must go to him though for the way he played. I just tried to stick to my plans and utilise different angles from the crease.”

Earlier in the day, Tristan Stubbs played a quick innings of 68 runs from 50 balls, while Tony de Zorzi scored 45 to steer South Africa to 173-3 before captain Temba Bavuma declared the innings.

“We expected the wicket to break up a little more than it did,” Bavuma said after the match. “In the end, we just didn’t have enough time, plus the elements got in the way of what could have been a really good competitive game of cricket.”

The second Test match between the West Indies and South Africa is scheduled to take place at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, beginning on 15 August.

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