Shamar Joseph shines before South Africa reduce West Indies to 97-7

GUYANA: West Indies pacer Shamar Joseph marked his first taste of Test cricket on home soil with a five-wicket haul but South Africa hit back in kind as 17 wickets tumbled on a dramatic opening day of the second Test here on Thursday.

Fast bowler Joseph’s haul of five for 33 led the rout of the Proteas for 160 after they chose to bat first.

However, South African seamer Wiaan Mulder responded in kind with the excellent figures of four for 18 as the Caribbean side limped to 97 for seven in reply at the close.

Omitted for the rain-affected drawn first Test in Trinidad a week earlier, Joseph recaptured the form and energy of his debut series in Australia in January.

There he famously bowled the West Indies to their first Test success Down Under for 27 years on the final day of the second Test in Brisbane with an astonishing seven-wicket haul.

In the wake of a forgettable two Tests in England last month when he looked short of work and match fitness, the Guyanese pacer made amends as soon as he came on as first-change bowler on a steamy morning at the South American venue.

He removed opener Adrian Markram almost immediately and with fellow pacer Jayden Seales (3 for 45) offering excellent support, his consistent pace and full length proved more than a handful for the South Africans in conditions which were surprisingly helpful to the fast bowlers.

“It’s a great feeling to have done this at home,” said 24-year-old Shamar Joseph in reflecting on his third five-wicket Test innings haul.

“I haven’t really played much here at Providence but I always go in with a clear plan to do what the team needed, and I am glad I was able to deliver today.”

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It took a last-wicket partnership of 63 by Dane Piedt (38 not out) and Nandre Burger (23) to lift the visitors past the hundred-run mark.

Ironically, both players were selected for this match primarily for their bowling after batsman Ryan Rickelton and fast bowler Lungi Ngidi were dropped from the first Test side.

Fuelled by that late resistance, the South African bowlers ripped through the West Indies’ top-order batting.

Burger was the first to strike when he scattered the stumps of Mikyle Louis but it was the introduction of Mulder in place of the luckless Kagiso Rabada which saw the South Africa surge back.

Following the pattern set earlier in the day by Shamar Joseph, the medium-pacer offered the ideal combination of movement through the air and off the seam to have the hosts tottering at 56 for six, bettering his previous best of a three for one, also against the West Indies three years earlier in St Lucia.

“I didn’t bowl at my best but I had a lot going for me today,” Mulder admitted in reflecting on his career-best Test bowling performance.

“I just tried to replicate what Shamar did earlier in the day by bowling a length which made it difficult for the batters to score. He’s obviously quicker than I am but the pitch also helped by style of bowling so I was able to capitalise.”

Jason Holder (33 not out) and Gudakesh Motie averted a complete collapse, although Motie’s demise in the last over of the day to Keshav Maharaj places an even greater responsibility on the shoulders of former captain Holder to get whatever he can with the tail on the second morning to minimise the first innings deficit.

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