ESPNcricinfo
Kagiso Rabada claimed his first five-wicket haul in 33 innings, since March 2018, as South Africa wrapped up the St Lucia Test before lunch on the third day to take an unassailable lead in the two-match series. West Indies lost six for 65 in an extended first session on Saturday to stumble to a sixth innings defeat in 253 matches at home.
They have plenty to address in terms of shot selection and temperament before the second Test, which starts next Friday.
While conditions remained challenging for batting throughout the match, with swing through the air, the surface did not hold any demons. Roston Chase proved as much with a top score of 62 but had barely any support. West Indies’ highest partnership was a 46-run stand between Chase and Jermaine Blackwood, who only added three runs to his overnight score and was worked over by Lungi Ngidi on the third morning.
Ngidi thought he had an early breakthrough in the fourth over of the day when umpire Gregory Brathwaite gave Blackwood out caught down the leg side but Blackwood reviewed. Replays showed the ball had hit the thigh pad as Blackwood missed the flick.
Two balls later, Blackwood was hit on the front pad and Ngidi appealed for lbw but the ball was clearly going over the top of the stumps. And two balls after that, Blackwood was given out again after Ngidi beat him with a full delivery on middle stump and the batter reviewed again.
Ball-tracking showed the delivery was too high and Blackwood survived again.
South Africa’s frustration did not last much longer. Blackwood faced just eight more balls and then drove Rabada uppishly to short extra cover, where Rassie van der Dussen took a low catch. West Indies’ score was on 97 at that point, the same as their first-innings total.
Anrich Nortje was brought on after that wicket and immediately bared his teeth. He beat Chase with a delivery that squared him up from outside off. Nortje continued to test Chase outside off but Wiaan Mulder allowed some reprieve at the other end. He overpitched and Chase took back-to-back boundaries to bring up his half-century off 122 balls. Chase’s achievement stood in stark contrast to his team-mates. No other West Indian batter made an individual score of more than 20 in the match.
Summarized Scores: South Africa 322 (de Kock 141*, Holder 4-75) beat West Indies 97 (Holder 20, Ngidi 5-19, Nortje 4-35) & 162 (Chase 62, Rabada 5-34) by an innings and 63 runs