OBAKENG MELETSE
The Proteas have returned to the island paradise of the West Indies, as they set their sights on back-to-back series wins in the Caribbean. The first Test of two will get under way on Wednesday at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago at 4pm.
Fresh from a drawn warm-up match against a West Indies Championship XI, Temba Bavuma and his teammates all had a useful outing at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy Ground after winning the toss and electing to field first.
The Proteas’ first-innings score of 408-8 declared was enough to get the home side to bat twice, while there were also decent contributions with the willow from David Bedingham (74 retired out) and Kyle Verrynne (65 retired out). Ryan Rickelton created a selection poser for coach Shukri Conrad with his 80 before he too retired out.
Lungi Ngidi picked up eight wickets in the 2021 tour, which helped lead the Proteas to a 2-0 series win. His 18 overs in the warm-up match could only produce three wickets but he believes adjusting to conditions will play a big role in completing back-to-back series wins away from home.
“Any conditions you come across you are going to have to find a way,” he said.
“We didn’t know what to expect (from the warm-up match surface) and it turned out on the slower side. You end up changing your plans to adapt to whatever is in front of you, and that is what we are going to do in the Test match as well. I think we did pretty well.”
The rest of the bowlers managed to get a lot of overs behind them, while also getting used to using the Duke ball. Ngidi’s three wickets came in the second innings, which only lasted 27 overs, with the West Indies XI posting 46-4 after trailing South Africa’s first-innings score by 11 runs. He picked up 3-8 in four overs.
“We have been looking at the conditions. The thing was to get rhythm. We did that in the first innings, and as the days went on you try to work that rhythm into your game plans, and that’s exactly what I did this morning.”
“To bowl with the Duke ball, I think it’s nice because it stays hard for a while, which means you always have something to work with. But in terms of how to bowl with it, I think that our guys did pretty well.”
The 28-year-old Titans fast bowler has struggled to nail down a permanent place in the Proteas set-up with the emergence of younger bowlers, but he is happy to be back in the Caribbean. Ngidi expects the home side to be competitive, even though they are fresh from a 3-0 series whitewash at the hands of England.
“When you’re happy and playing in an environment that you enjoy playing in, I think that’s where people see your best cricket come out. Hopefully, people will see that again on this tour.”
“It’s always competitive, especially if teams are playing at home with the crowd behind them but we are obviously here to compete and we are going to put our best foot forward. They’re probably going to do the same so I’m expecting a good test series.”