South Africa’s opening batsman, Tony de Zorzi, who was removed for 78 before lunch, sat on the change-room balcony with a copy of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Ironic, because what unfolded in front of him was nothing like the novel’s bleak world. Instead, it was exactly what his coach Shukri Conrad predicted: the same old Test cricket. South Africa’s red-ball coach used the word “traditional” to describe what he expected to be attritional cricket in Trinidad, and that’s exactly what the teams delivered.
All save one South African batter, Aiden Markram, received starts. Two batsmen, de Zorzi and skipper Temba Bavuma, scored half-centuries, and there were four 50-plus partnerships, but no hundreds. Only one frontline West Indian bowler, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, gave more than 3.5 runs per over, and the seamers took five wickets between them. They were disciplined the majority of the time and threatened for some of it, but they did not constantly bother the hitters. All of this could be attributed to the surface on which this Test is being played: tame, reasonably dry, and devoid of bounce or pace. It was the type of surface that required patience, not flair, and rewarded those who were ready to work hard.
That was clear from the first exchanges, when West Indies’ experienced seamers Kemar Roach and Jason Holder relied on good lengths to keep South Africa quiet and were punished if they strayed. Holder dropped it a bit short in his third over of the day, and de Zorzi dabbed it behind point for the first boundary. In the next over, Roach was slightly too full, and Tristan Stubbs confidently drove his first and last balls past the covers.
South Africa’s second-wicket combination were beaten on occasion, but they were largely at ease early on. De Zorzi scored his second Test fifty from 78 balls, including a single off Holder. Importantly, it marks de Zorzi’s first success as an opener in Tests. Stubbs did not have the same success at No. 3 and failed to use his feet as Roach angled a length ball in from the outside of the crease. With the slip cordon in place, Stubbs edged behind, while Holder lunged across from second slip to collect the ball low.
