South Africa v West Indies - Third Test

Newlands, Cape Town

SAF: BA Richards, EJ Barlow, DJ Cullinan, RG Pollock, *WJ Cronje, +JHB Waite, MJ Procter, HJ Tayfield, NBF Mann, AA Donald, NAT Adcock.
WI: CC Hunte, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, IVA Richards, CH Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MA Holding, CEL Ambrose, J Garner, CA Walsh.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: S Kishen (IND) & BL Aldridge (NZL)
Toss: South Africa

Slight water damage made it difficult to read the Newlands pitch ahead of the third Test, and after a rocket start from Barry Richards had taken South Africa to a healthy looking 43-0, Holding and the recalled Garner proceeded to engineer the most catastrophic of collapses, five wickets falling for just six runs in the space of 21 deliveries to leave the hosts reeling at 49-5.

Cullinan, Pollock, Cronje and Waite (in for the injured Lindsay) all departed for ducks, but Richards held firm and continued to bat as if he were playing in an entirely different match. He raised a stunning century off exactly 100 balls, made out of a total of 132-6, and by the time he was ninth out he had blitzed his way to 171, with Procter (22) and the increasingly doughty Donald, who contributed 19 to a ninth wicket stand of 73, the only other players to make it into double figures.

Barry Richards was dominance
personified in South Africa's first innings

Rarely has one player dominated proceedings to such an extent, but the fact was that South Africa had been bowled out inside a day for a wholly inadequate 233. However, with Neil Adcock able to extract some excessive lift bowling from the Wynberg End, West Indies slumped to 68-4 early on the second morning and the game was back on an even keel. Haynes played and missed with great frequency but he hung on, and like Barry Richards on the first day he held the innings together, albeit in a completely different style.

Sobers contributed a subdued 22 before being gated by Mann, and with the spinners turning the screw in the afternoon the tourists looked like conceding a first innings lead. Haynes was eventually seventh out for a stoic five hour century, and when Holding departed for a useful 25 the scoreboard read 204-9 and West Indies still trailed by 29. Numbers ten and eleven, Garner and Walsh, were not expected to hold up proceedings for much longer, but they somehow managed to push their side into the lead, and by the time Garner became the deserving Adcock's fifth victim in the first over of day three, both had reached their highest ever ATG scores and had set a new West Indian record for the tenth wicket in the process.

Courtney Walsh starred with the bat, and later
with the ball, as West Indies took control of the Test

A total of 279 had given the tourists a lead of 46, and South African wickets fell at regular intervals during the remainder of day three as the hosts failed to establish a solid foothold. Barlow's 81 was the only innings of substance, and by the time bad light brought about an early close South Africa had stumbled their way to a score of 199-5 and a lead of 153. Runs remained hard to come by on the fourth morning, and when an outrageous burst of three wickets in four balls from Courtney Walsh closed the innings on 261, West Indies were left with a target of 216 for the win.

Hunte and Kanhai fell early, but Haynes was again proving resolute and Donald totally lost his rag as Viv Richards smeared his way to a very streaky half century. The tourists seemed set, but the spin of Tayfield and Mann gave South Africa a little more control, and the wickets of Haynes and Richards, combined with Procter's run out of Lloyd, reduced the score to 129-5 and the hosts were back in with a chance. Sobers and Dujon put up a wall though, and a partnership of 66 had taken West Indies to within 21 of victory when Tayfield finally prised out Dujon for 19 on the final morning. Holding followed soon after but Sobers remained unbowed, and it was fitting that West Indies' skipper should hit the winning runs as the tourists secured victory in what had been a truly incredible Test match. West Indies' three wicket win also handed them the series, and it would not be surprising if South Africa's selectors made some changes ahead of the final Test in Durban.

Garry Sobers has now led his side
to six successive series victories

Score Summary
SAF 1st Inns 233 (BA Richards 171; Holding 4-61)
WI 1st Inns 279 (Haynes 106, Garner 41; Adcock 5-44)
SAF 2nd Inns 261 (Barlow 81; Walsh 5-63)
WI 2nd Inns 216-7 (Sobers 64*, IVA Richards 52, Haynes 45)

WEST INDIES WON BY 3 WICKETS

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 67-2 (Haynes 30*, IVA Richards 4*; 27 ov)
Day 2 - West Indies 1st innings 274-9 (Garner 41*, Walsh 29*; 116 ov)
Day 3 - South Africa 2nd innings 199-5 (Waite 26*, Procter 2*; 75.4 ov)
Day 4 - West Indies 2nd innings 166-5 (Sobers 29*, Dujon 8*; 59 ov)
Day 5 - West Indies 2nd innings 216-7 (86.4 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Barry Richards scored a record 73.39% of his side's runs in the first innings
▪ Holding passed 100 career wickets
▪ Garner and Walsh's partnership of 75 is the highest tenth wicket stand for West Indies
▪ Walsh became the sixth player, and first West Indian, to take three wickets in a single over

Man of the Match: BA Richards