Twitter Reactions: Kagiso Rabada’s fifer hands West Indies crushing defeat in opener

After Quinton de Kock’s stupendous century on the second day, South Africa needed to get six wickets on the third day to wrap things up in their opening Test against the West Indies. In the end, it took only 34 overs for the Proteas on day three to hand the Caribbean team a massive defeat in the game at the Daren Sammy International Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia.

Roston Chase looked the most accomplished of the hosts’ batters as he scored 62 runs off 156 balls with the help of seven fours and one six. The rest of the batsmen couldn’t lend him much support as the team folded for 162 in their second innings, giving South Africa a win by an innings and 63 runs.

Rabada wreaks havoc

Kagiso Rabada, who got only one wicket in the first innings, turned out to be the chief destroyer in the second. The speedster picked up five wickets and ran through the home team’s batting lineup. Keshav Maharaj also chipped in with a couple of wickets.

After the loss, Kraigg Brathwaite, the West Indies skipper, said that he didn’t have regrets about batting first since the track showed “variable bounce”. He was also not happy with his team’s batting performance.

“I think so (right decision at the toss?). Saw today there was variable bounce. Pitch was dry. Didn’t bat well in the first innings. We didn’t get a big enough total and were always on the back foot. Even batting second, I still thought we didn’t bat as well as we could,” Brathwaite said.

Dean Elgar, on the other hand, was elated with South Africa’s batters, especially De Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram. Moreover, the skipper lauded the bowlers for sticking to the basics and reaping the rewards.

“Firm believer in runs on the board first, but we knew the wicket is going to help the seamers in the first session. Great to see our batting unit pass 300. Quinny, Aiden, Rassie… They played well. The basics of bowling are what the bowlers did well here,” Elgar said after the match.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to South Africa’s win: