Twitter Reactions: Keshav Maharaj’s hat-trick gives South Africa 2-0 series win against West Indies
Maharaj picked up his seventh five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
The second Test between West Indies and South Africa was poised for an exciting finish with the hosts needing 309 runs in the final day with all their wickets intact. However, the Proteas held their nerves and won the game by 158 runs, and also sealed the series 2-0. For the home team, the batters couldn’t survive the heat at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet in St Lucia.
Maharaj steps in
Kraigg Brathwaite’s disastrous series with the bat came to an end after Kagiso Rabada found his outside edge in the third over of the day. Shai Hope became Rabada’s second victim soon after. Kieran Powell and Kyle Mayers tried to restore sanity with a 64-run stand for the third wicket before Rabada got rid of the latter. Powell, meanwhile, looked determined and scored a fifty off 108 balls.
Thereafter, Keshav Maharaj ripped the heart out of the West Indies batting unit. The left-arm spinner picked up a hat-trick and reduced the hosts from 107 for three to 107 for six. To start with, he accounted for the well-set Powell. He then found Jason Holder’s inside edge and Keegan Peterson took a decent catch at short leg. Joshua de Silva became Maharaj’s third victim.
Proteas romp home
Jermaine Blackwood’s 25 and Kemar Roach’s 27 kept the Proteas at bay for a while, but it was only momentary. The duo put on 40 runs for the seventh wicket to raise some hopes for the Caribbean team to pull off at least a draw. Lungi Ngidi broke the partnership after he found Blackwood’s outside edge, caught by Quinton de Kock. The last two wickets didn’t take time in going down.
Maharaj, following his hat-trick, came back to pick up a five-wicket haul after he dismissed Roach and Jayden Seales. It was the seventh fifer of the tweaker’s Test career. However, it was Rabada, who got the Player of the Match award as he notched 61 runs and picked up five wickets in the game. Roston Chase didn’t come out to bat in the second innings after sustaining a quad injury.
Here’s how the netizens reacted to South Africa’s win:
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