Aiden Markram hit a century on his return to Test cricket but the West Indies fought back on the first day of the first Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park on Tuesday.
South Africa scored 314 for eight, and Markram made 115.
Alzarri Joseph, a fast bowler, led the West Indian bowling attack by taking three wickets for 60 runs.
When South Africa got to 221 for 1, after their new captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to bat, it looked like they were going to take full control.
But before the end of the game, they lost seven more wickets and scored another 93 runs. This was because the West Indian bowlers found that the old ball had more swing, sideways movement, and consistency.
Markram and former captain Dean Elgar (71) scored 141 runs together to start the game. Then, Markram and new captain Tony de Zorzi scored 80 runs together.
The person who writes with their left hand Before he was run out for 28, De Zorzi looked at ease.
De Zorzi hit a ball from Joseph through the outfielders and scored two easy runs.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul made a good sliding stop, and De Zorzi was sent back after he went for an unlikely third.
Chanderpaul’s throw was off, but wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva flicked the ball into the stumps.
On Bavuma’s first game as South Africa’s first Black African captain, a full ball from Joseph got him leg before wicket for naught. Two balls later, Joseph struck again by yorking Markram.
Markram was taken off the team last year because he wasn’t doing well. In 15 games, he didn’t get a fifty and only got two scores over 30. He had not made a hundred since February 2021, when he scored 108 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
After a slow start, he quickly got into his groove. In 174 balls, he hit 18 fours, including his signature cover drives and powerful pull shots.
Elgar was taken off as captain after South Africa lost badly in England and Australia. He scored 71 out of 118 balls.
Two of Elgar’s 11 fours were ramp shots over the slips, but when he tried to hit a third one this way, Jermaine Blackwood at third man made a diving catch.
When Kyle Mayers was on 10, Blackwood let a good chance at third slip off his bat.
The South African team was different from the one that played in the third Test of a losing series in Australia in January. De Zorzi and fast bowler Gerald Coetzee both got their first caps.
The West Indies made one change to the team that beat Zimbabwe in Bulawayo earlier this month by an innings and four runs.
Gudakesh Motie, a left-arm spinner who took 13 wickets in the win in Bulawayo, was replaced by fast bowler Kemar Roach because he hurt his back.
Photo by Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
