On the second night in Johannesburg, West Indies’ first-innings disadvantage was reduced to just 69 runs thanks to Jason Holder’s resolute 81 not out. West Indies, responding to South Africa’s 320, was at one stage in trouble at 162/8, but Holder, who smashed 8 fours and 4 sixes in his 117-ball stay, was able to form significant partnerships with Kemar Roach and Gudakesh Motie and contributed to an additional 89 runs for the final two wickets. Otherwise, South Africa dominated the tourists throughout the entire innings.
The day began in Johannesburg with an exciting morning session that saw seven wickets fall, with West Indies first brushing off the tail before their top-order against South Africa suffered the same fate. West Indies picked up the final three South African wickets in just 18 valid deliveries. Heinrich Klaasen’s loose shot was pushed behind by the third ball of the morning, which is when Kyle Mayers scored. Alzarri Joseph’s subsequent over resulted in Keshav Maharaj top-edging a short delivery to mid-wicket before he returned to close out the innings with a snorter. On this throw, which climbed up from a length, Gerald Coetzee just about pulled off some glove.
The hosts were bowled out for 320 after losing their last 8 wickets for just 82 runs due to South Africa’s hurried end to their game. In the Test encounter, West Indies had a chance to take the lead, but they were prevented by Temba Bavuma’s brilliant throw from the cover that caused Tagenarine Chanderpaul to run out. Kraigg Brathwaite’s brief stay at the wicket ended abruptly when he edged behind a Rabada ball that was nearly unplayable because it bounced from a length and made a thin edge behind.
With only 22 runs scored by the two openers, West Indies faced an uphill battle on a surface that had become faster since the first day. The guests were alerted by Gerald Coetzee’s back-to-back strikes on Jermaine Blackwood (caught behind) and Raymon Reifer (caught at short leg off the inside edge). West Indies added 70 runs in the afternoon for the loss of just two wickets, with the two established batters Roston Chase and Andre Mayers increasing their combination to 52. After lunch, Wiaan Mulder hit his fifth consecutive over at that point. After inside-edging a delivery onto his pads, Chase discovered that the ball had rolled to his stumps. Despite the fact that it was the only wicket to go in a steady first hour, West Indies lost Mayers, another experienced batter, to a short delivery in the second half of the session. He appeared troubled when Rabada delivered short balls, and finally top-edged one to slip.
Before Joshua Da Silva was dismissed by a Simon Harmer delivery that spun through the bat-pad gap, Holder and the West Indies were steadied by a 41-run partnership between them. Alzarri Joseph was removed by Maharaj in the subsequent over after being caught at the pointless range, but South Africa seemed to lose its way after that. It required Coetzee’s pace to dismiss Roach, who appeared at ease against spin. After a frustrating wait of nearly 14 hours and precisely 58 runs, Harmer finally got the last wicket when Motie’s big heave-ho only reached Bavuma at the cover. At the conclusion of the day, South Africa’s openers handled the three overs fairly safely, but on the third day, they will have to increase the lead.
