The West Indies had cause to rue four missed chances as South Africa moved steadily toward a substantial first-innings total on the first day of the second Test at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, yesterday.
South Africa were 157-1 at tea after being sent in to bat in overcast conditions.
Dean Elgar (85 not out) and Faf du Plessis (42 not out) put on an unbeaten 110 for the second wicket, but both should have been dismissed.
Photo: AFP
Du Plessis was put down by Marlon Samuels at gully off Jerome Taylor when he had made 8 and again by Devon Smith diving to his right off left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn when he was on 26.
One ball after Du Plessis’ second escape, the left-handed Elgar went down the wicket to Benn and was well out of his ground as the ball squeezed through to hit low on the pad of captain and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.
Elgar was on 48 and to add insult to injury for the disappointed bowler he went down the wicket again just after that and lofted Benn to the straight boundary to raise his half-century.
Elgar could have been run out on 73.
After a mix-up with Du Plessis, he was several meters short of safety when Kenroy Peters’ throw from midwicket missed the stumps at the bowler’s end.
The tourists only wicket came after Elgar and Alviro Petersen had put on 47 for the first wicket.
Petersen played a rash stroke against Shannon Gabriel and was caught by Leon Johnson, running back from cover.
Gabriel was one of three changes in the West Indies bowling lineup.
Gabriel, debutant Peters and all-rounder Jason Holder all bowled accurately in overcast conditions.
Gabriel and Holder were particularly effective in tandem, conceding only 10 runs in nine overs after Petersen’s dismissal.
South Africa made two changes from the side that won the first Test at Centurion by an innings and 220 runs.
Batsman Temba Bavuma became the sixth black South Africa player — and the first since Lonwabo Tsotsobe four seasons ago — to play Test cricket.
He replaced the injured Quinton de Kock and is the 85th player to be capped since South Africa returned to Test cricket in 1992.
In a second change for the hosts, Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir replaced seamer Kyle Abbott, with spin expected to be a factor on the St George’s Park pitch.
A.B. de Villiers, who will continue to keep wicket as he did in both West Indies innings in the first Test after De Kock’s injury, is playing in his 97th consecutive Test since his debut 10 years ago.
By doing so he moved one ahead of Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, the previous record-holder for the most consecutive Tests from debut.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
RSS