West Indies v South Africa - Series Summary

With both sides having beaten Australia in recent series, the expectation was for a close fought contest here, but in reversing their 3-1 defeat when the teams last met in South Africa, West Indies enjoyed an unexpected dominance over their Springbok visitors. The tone was set by South Africa's dismissal for 80 on the first day of the series, and West Indies' bowlers remained on top, culminating in the routing of the tourists for just 30 in Antigua, a performance that is unlikely to be repeated at any time in the future.

Indeed, South Africa were dismissed for under 100 three times over the course of the series, a statistic that further underlines West Indies' dominance with the ball. Malcolm Marshall was consistency personified, and with Holding, Walsh and Garner all providing incisive support, there was simply nowhere to hide for the South African batsmen. This was never more true than in the second Test in Trinidad, where an atrocious wicket made batting a lottery, and South Africa's defeat there all but sealed their defeat in the series.

West Indies' pace attack apart, the other dominant figure over the course of the series was Viv Richards who, in the four Tests in which he played, struck three centuries at a strike rate of over 80 and simply looked a class above any other batsman. Over the course of ATG Season 4, Richards has scored 1731 runs in 14 Tests at an average of 86.55, and his seven centuries during this period have now brought him level with Don Bradman on 18 career tons, a statistic that illustrates his influence on a resurgent West Indies team.

For South Africa, Graeme Pollock was his usual consistent self, albeit with a lower batting average than normal, and Dudley Nourse showed good form in the latter half of the series, but those two apart, the Springboks' batting performances were fitful at best. Mike Procter's lack of form with both bat and ball saw him dropped for the final Test, and whilst Tayfield, Donald and Adcock all returned decent figures, there was never the persistent threat that was posed by the home attack, a fact that was compounded by a decidedly lacklustre performance in the field for much of the series.

West Indies Batting
IVA Richards 476 runs @ 95.20, GStA Sobers 255 @ 42.50, CH Lloyd 287 @ 41.00, GA Headley 283 @ 35.38, CG Greenidge 279 @ 34.88

West Indies Bowling
MD Marshall 26 wkts @ 18.88, CA Walsh 20 @ 20.30, MA Holding 25 @ 22.32, J Garner 15 @ 26.40

South Africa Batting
AD Nourse 348 runs @ 49.71, DT Lindsay 192 @ 48.00, RG Pollock 468 @ 46.80, BA Richards 353 @ 35.30, DJ Cullinan 140 @ 23.33

South Africa Bowling
HJ Tayfield 15 wkts @ 28.33, AA Donald 17 @ 28.41, NAT Adcock 12 @ 33.50, TL Goddard 11 @ 40.09, MJ Procter 7 @ 49.86

WEST INDIES WON THE SERIES 3-1

Players of the Series: MD Marshall & RG Pollock