Keshav Maharaj leads South Africa to series win over West Indies

The rain-affected first game in Trinidad was drawn but the second test victory means South Africa have won 10 successive series against the Windies.

Published - August 18, 2024 04:41 am IST

South Africa team pose with the trophy after winning on Day 3 of the 2nd Test match between West Indies and South Africa at Guyana National Stadium in Providence, Guyana.

South Africa team pose with the trophy after winning on Day 3 of the 2nd Test match between West Indies and South Africa at Guyana National Stadium in Providence, Guyana. | Photo Credit: AFP

Keshav Maharaj took three wickets to lead South Africa to a 40-run win over West Indies in the second test in Georgetown on Saturday and become his country’s most successful spin bowler.

South Africa completed victory inside three days after bowling West Indies out for 222, having set them a target of 263 to win the match.

The rain-affected first game in Trinidad was drawn but the second test victory means South Africa have won 10 successive series against the Windies.

Maharaj, named man of the series, finished with 3-37, going past Hugh Tayfield’s tally of 170 test wickets to set a new standard for South African spin bowling.

Fast bowler Kagiso Rababa, who also took three wickets, is now on 299 test victims.

It was a close call for the touring side in a low scoring match as the Windies fell agonisingly short.

They begun their chase with more than two days to play, but lost opener Mikyle Louis cheaply for four as he nicked a catch to Wiaan Mulder at slip off Rabada.

Captain Kraigg Brathwaite was the next man out but not before adding 42 runs with Keacy Carty for the second wicket.

When the experienced Jason Holder fell without scoring to leave west Indies on 104-6, it looked an uphill task for the home team.

Joshua da Silva and Gudakesh Motie, however, shared the best Windies partnership of the series, adding 77 runs to reduce the target to 82, before Motie was lbw to Maharaj for a test-best 45.

Maharaj trapped Da Silva lbw for 27 and a brilliant one- handed diving catch from skipper Temba Bavuma sent back Shamar Joseph before Maharaj had Jayden Seales was caught by close-in fielder David Bedingham.

South Africa had resumed in the moring on 223-5 with a 239-run lead but the 22-year-old Seales ran through the tail to return test best figures of 6-61 as the last five wickets fell for 22 runs.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.