West Indies A bowlers managed to contain their opposition on day three of their first unofficial four-day Test match against South Africa to keep their target for victory under 250 runs.
Joint efforts from bowlers Akeem Jordan, Jayden Seales, Kevin Sinclair and Shermon Lewis kept the wickets ticking, but they were unable to contain the resolute Neil Brand, who led the batting charge for South Africa A with a patient century.
Brand’s 219-ball 104, comprising 14 boundaries, almost saw him through the entire South African second innings, while his teammates were unable to capitalise on their starts.
Zubayr Hamza got to 30 runs off 52 deliveries before falling to Sinclair’s bowling, while David Bedingham was the next best batsman with 23 off 45 balls.
Tshepo Moreki frustrated the Windies A bowlers with his quickfire 17 from 15 balls, while Duanne Olivier pitched in 14 runs from 34 balls at the tail.
A solitary wicket for Jair McAllister, that of Olivier, saw the Proteas A innings coming to an end for 250 runs, leaving the Caribbean side 224 runs to chase.
Jordan led the charge for the Men in Maroon with the ball, taking 3-58 from 22 overs, while Seales took 2-48 from 16 overs.
Also with two scalps were Sinclair, with 2-39 from 17 overs, while Lewis claimed 2-37 from 11 overs.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Zachary McCaskie will resume the chase today on one and five runs respectively.
The fourth day’s play begins at 04:00h local time.
SCORECARD
South Africa A
BATTING R B
Neil Brand LHB c K Sinclair b SH Lewis 104 219
Tony de Zorzi LHB c KSA McKenzie b JNT Seales 0 13
Zubayr Hamza RHB lbw K Sinclair 30 52
Keegan Petersen RHB b A Jordan 9 19
David Bedingham RHB lbw SH Lewis 23 45
Clyde Fortuin RHB c JM Da Silva b A Jordan 20 36
Mihlali Mpongwana RHB lbw A Jordan 8 17
Hardus Viljoen RHB b K Sinclair 0 8
Dane Piedt RHB b JNT Seales 13 22
Duanne Olivier RHB not out 14 34
Tshepo Moreki RHB c JM Da Silva b J McAllister 17 15
Extras – 12 b: 4 lb: 7 wd: 0 nb: 1
Total 250 all out (79.5 overs)
BOWLING O M R W
Jayden Seales PACE 16.0 2 48 2
Kevin Sinclair SPIN 17.0 6 39 2
Akeem Jordan PACE 22.0 5 58 3
Shermon Lewis PACE 11.0 2 37 2
Jair McAllister PACE 10.5 0 35 1
Kavem Hodge SPIN 3.0 1 22 0
Windies A
BATTING R B
Tagenarine Chanderpaul LHB not out 1 12
Zachary McCaskie RHB not out 5 13
BOWLING O M R W
Tshepo Moreki PACE 2.0 0 3 0
Dane Piedt SPIN 2.0 0 4 0
