West Indies ‘A’ Tour of South Africa 2023: Test 3 of 3: South Africa take series
– DaSilva century in vain
West Indies ‘A’ Captain Joshua DaSilva finally showed up at the party in South Africa, but his century was not enough to save his team from a loss in the third and final four-day match.
The series-deciding chase began on a good note, with Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kirk McKenzie beginning the day on 47-1 and adding a further 79 runs for the second wicket partnership.
McKenzie looked to be in sublime touch, hitting 13 fours and 2 sixes in his 94-ball 81 before falling to Duane Olivier. Soon after, Chanderpaul perished for a patient 31 from 128 balls, and new batsmen were introduced to the crease.
Joshua DaSilva hit his fourth first-class century in a losing cause
Kavem Hodge’s contribution to the mammoth chase was 47 from 89 deliveries. He fell short of his half century after being caught off Ruan de Swardt’s bowling in the 68th over. Captain DaSilva, however, held up one end of the pitch alongside the ‘tailenders’, slamming 110 from 138 balls that included 8 fours and 2 sixes.
Guyanese Kevin Sinclair added 23 from 32 deliveries, but all in all, it was not enough to get the West Indies over the line. The Caribbean side got to only 344, coming up 76 runs short of the target and a victory.
Dane Paterson was the pick of the South African bowlers with figures of 4-66 from 20.1 overs. Ruan de Swardt claimed 2 wickets for 45 runs in 15 overs.
While West Indies ‘A’ had won the first match, South Africa ‘A’ took the second and third games to seal a 2-1 series win.
