West Indies v South Africa - First Test

Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana

WI: CG Greenidge, DL Haynes, GA Headley, IVA Richards, CH Lloyd, *G StA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, MA Holding, J Garner, CA Walsh.
SAF: BA Richards, *TL Goddard, B Mitchell, RG Pollock, DJ Cullinan, JN Rhodes, +JHB Waite, MJ Procter, HJ Tayfield, AA Donald, NAT Adcock.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: D Sang Hue & RG Gosein
Toss: South Africa

South Africa took the field in good spirits on the first morning of this series; their batsmen had shown good form in the warm-up match, Curtley Ambrose was ruled out of this match and possibly the whole series for West Indies with a hamstring injury, and to cap it all Trevor Goddard won the toss and was able to bat on a decent looking Bourda strip. However, by tea time on day one South Africa's stock had plummeted dramatically: it was West Indies who were now batting, the Springboks having been blown away for just 80 in a dramatic start to the series.

Malcolm Marshall had been the main destroyer, taking full advantage of what little live grass there was in the pitch, and he claimed 4-12 as South Africa's innings was reduced to 32-5 after a calamitous first 90 minutes for the tourists. Only Richards (21), Waite (22) and Tayfield (13) reached double figures, and with Marshall resting, Holding (3-29) and Walsh (3-24) took care of the tail in an innings that had lasted just 34.1 overs.

It was now down to West Indies' batsmen to hammer home their advantage, and led by Viv Richards' sixteenth ATG century, Garry Sobers' team set about constructing a lead approaching 300 over the course of the next day and a half. At 62-3 the innings wobbled briefly, but Richards hammered a brutal 108 from just 133 balls, dominating a 151 run fourth wicket partnership with Clive Lloyd (50) as South Africa's bowlers were put to the sword. Both Procter and Donald received particularly harsh treatment, and the Springboks' fielding was ragged, with John Waite looking alarmingly unsure behind the stumps. Fifties from Dujon and Holding - his first at this level - bolstered the latter part of West Indies' innings, and a final total of 378 gave the hosts a lead of 298 after only two days' play.

South Africa needed to make a better fist of things second time around - they could hardly do any worse - and Graeme Pollock was at the forefront of the counter-attack, striking a sublime 113 that more than matched Richards' effort for the West Indies. The Springboks were handily placed at 158-2 shortly before tea on day three, but Goddard's contentious lbw dismissal by Garner for 52 precipitated a slide from which there was no escape. Marshall returned to remove Pollock via the outside edge - one of seven victims for Dujon in the match - but aside from a gutsy last wicket stand of over an hour between Donald and Adcock, there was little further resistance as the hosts' four-pronged pace attack found life in a wicket that had rendered South Africa's bowlers impotent.

An innings defeat at any time is a harsh blow to take, but in the first match of a series it is a particularly crushing setback. South Africa need to bounce back quickly in the second Test, and they may be without Mike Procter in Trinidad, the Springboks' all-rounder having been felled by a Joel Garner bouncer towards the end of South Africa's second innings here. Whatever Procter's fate though, one cannot help but wonder whether South Africa have already been dealt a knockout blow in the series.

Scores
SAF 1st Inns 80 (Marshall 4-12)
WI 1st Inns 378 (Richards 108, Dujon 54, Holding 53, Lloyd 50, Greenidge 43)
SAF 2nd Inns 280 (RG Pollock 113, Goddard 52)

WEST INDIES WON BY AN INNINGS & 18 RUNS

Man of the Match: MD Marshall