Proteas opening duo Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram looked sturdy in the 1st session as South Africa scored 99-0 by lunch on Day 1 of the 1st Test against the West Indies.
It’s the start of the New Era – Shukri Conrad’s first match as Test coach and the beginning of Temba Bavuma’s tenure as South Africa’s first-ever Black African Test captain.
The coach made visibly bold decisions in his first selection, Tony de Zorzi and Gerald Coetzee making their debuts, and he backed Senuran Muthasamy’s batting ability by selecting him at 7.
The Test also saw the return of some familiar faces, with Keegan Petersen selected after a long injury lay-off, while Aiden Markram was reinstated as Dean Elgar’s opening partner.
The Centurion pitch looked relatively flat, but this did not mean there was nothing in it for the quicks in the morning session, with a tinge of green quite visible on the deck.
The understanding of the SuperSport Park pitch has always suggested that it dries up and gets easier to bat on, so batting first has always been the favoured choice. Bavuma opted to do just that, in front of an empty Tuesday morning local crowd.
The Proteas openers looked quite comfortable and after the first hour, the pair brought up their 50-run partnership.
Both players looked composed, switching between defence and attack at will. They were not too bothered by the pace attack of the Windies, who did manage to beat the outside edge on a couple of occasions.
The introduction of spinner Roston Chase, never hassled the batters too much either as they neared the lunchtime break, the pair rotating the strike and keeping any dangerous deliveries out.
Elgar cut a short delivery to the boundary to bring up his half-century in 84 balls halfway through the 25th over, taking SA just five runs shy of the 100 mark. This was Elgar’s 23rd half-century.
Markram ended the session eight runs short of his 10th half-century and South Africa on 99-0 after 28 overs.
