Gros Islet – Pacer Shannon Gabriel lifted the spirits of West Indies when he broke a frustrating fourth wicket stand between Dean Elgar and Kyle Verreynne in the final over before tea against South Africa in the second Test in St Lucia.
At the break, the South Africans, sent into bat, were 124 for four in their first innings on the rain-marred first day of the Test at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground with their captain Dean Elgar not out on 53 and fellow left-hander Quinton de Kock not out on one.
Gabriel had Verreynne caught behind for 27 and has been the most successful Windies bowler so far, taking two for 36 from 10 overs.
Before his intervention, the closest the Caribbean side came to making the breakthrough was when they unsuccessfully reviewed a not-out decision from umpire Gregory Brathwaite, after appealing for Verreynne lbw, on eight, to Kyle Mayers in the pacer’s first over.
Wickets appeared to dry up for West Indies, when the Proteas resumed after lunch from 44 for three, and Elgar and Verreynne put on 87 to ease concerns in their side’s changing room.
Gabriel, coming into the line-up for the Windies line-up ahead of burly off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, was erratic in his two spells during the session, and watched Elgar reach his 50 from 146 balls off his bowling, when the left-handed opener top-edged a short, rising ball to third-man boundary for his sixth four.
But Gabriel defied his struggles and had Verreynne caught down the leg-side, edging a hook at a short, wayward delivery, a dismissal confirmed after the batsman reviewed umpire Joel Wilson’s decision.
West Indies trail 0-1 in the two-Test series, after they crashed to an innings and 63 runs defeat inside three days in the first Test, which ended last Saturday at the same venue.
Though the Vivian Richards Trophy, symbol of Test supremacy between the two sides, is destined to return to Johannesburg, West Indies will be aiming to square the series and avoid their first series defeat of the year.
Summarised scores:
South Africa 124 for four (Dean Elgar 53 not out, Kyle Verreynne 27; Shannon Gabriel 2-36) vs West Indies.
(AR)
