West Indies continued their comeback trail in the Test match with a strong showing on the third morning, which saw them pick four wickets while conceding only 65 runs
Dean Elgar was the first to fall, steering a wide ball from Kyle Mayers straight to gully and that wicket in the first over of the day set the tone. Mayers struck again in the same spell, this time bowling Tony de Zorzi off an inside edge.
West Indies also accounted for the in-form Aiden Markram after getting an lbw review wrong against him. On the brink of drinks, Kemar Roach produced a jaffa that straightened in the fourth stump channel and caught Markram’s edge.
The second hour augured a little better for South Africa as Temba Bavuma counterattacked, picking up boundaries against Roach and Alzarri Joseph and Ryan Rickelton who nicked behind off the bowling Raymon Reifer.
But the day 03 ended in South Africa’s favour, With Bavuma’s undefeated 171 putting South Africa in complete control of the second Test against West Indies.
Going into the fourth day they are 356 runs ahead against opponents who looked more weary and listless with every passing apparently futile delivery.
Before the team’s ongoing Test series against South Africa, Brian Lara joined the coaching staff as a performance mentor.
Former West Indies great described the feeling of wearing the West Indies colors again in an interview with Cricket West Indies on Thursday.
“These are the colors that made me who I am today. It’s a different set of emotions. I remember several years back when I was a youngster living out my dream spending 17 years plying my trade in these very colors,” he said.
“Now, it’s a bit different being a member of staff, looking at present day players and trying to implement a style of play and a philosophy of the game that was successful in the past. I feel that, in time, we will see the benefits of this,” he added.
The former West Indies captain also described what his role will be with the team moving forward.
“I think it’s pretty simple. We have to improve our performances and not just sporadically, we have got to do it on a consistent level and I’m not going to pretty it up. That is what I’m here to do as a performance mentor; to get the players to play better cricket more consistently and to get the West Indies back competitive with the best cricket playing countries in the world,” Lara said.
I am happy that the West Indies Board has appointed Mr Brian Charles Lara as our performance mentor.I am confident he will do a good job.Mr Lara,over to you.Good Luck.