Pitch and weather: The pitch at SuperSport has traditionally been seamer-friendly, with South Africa often getting the better of visiting sides through rapid pace and bounce. Four of the last five Tests there have seen the captain winning the toss bat first. As for the weather, it has been raining a lot in Centurion of late, but it’s mostly expected to be sunny on Tuesday, the first day of the Test.
South Africa vs West Indies Highlights today, Tuesday 28-2-2023. 1st Test, West Indies tour of South Africa, SuperSport Park, Centurion.
Temba Bavuma: We will bat first. Conditions on the slow side. But once the sun comes up, it should get better for the quicks so I want to put runs on the board. I feel nervous to be honest, I was hoping we’d lose the toss and have to field. I’ll look to enjoy it as much as I can. Don’t really know what to expect but I’ll put my best foot forward. We have new and old faces, Aiden is back so is KP who is back from injury and will be in the middle order. De Zorzi and Coetzee will debut. Muthusamy and four quicks will be playing. The Guys have done well in preparations. Chat has been similar to what it was in the ODI series against England, about how we want to play. Test cricket is different but we want guys to express themselves and give their best.
Kraigg Brathwaite: We were gonna have a bat. But we got the opportunity with a new ball on a fresh surface to capitalise. We have one change, Roach comes in for Motie who’s injured. We’re in a good space mentally. We’ve had discussions on the different pitches here. In the past, SA’s bowling attacks have been superb. The key is to find ways to score runs. Players will need the confidence to get runs.
Toss: South Africa chose to bat.
South Africa team: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (c), Keegan Petersen, Heinrich Klaasen †, Senuran Muthusamy, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Gerald Coetzee.
West Indies team: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Raymon Reifer, Jermaine Blackwood, Kyle Mayers, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva †, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel.
Head to Head In Test’s: 30
South Africa Won: 20
West Indies Won: 3
South Africa Test Rankings: 4th
West Indies Test Rankings: 8th
Form guide
(Last five matches; most recent first)
South Africa DLLLL
West Indies WDLLW
Match Timings: 8:00 AM GMT | 10:00 AM Local
Umpires – Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus
TV Umpire – Paul Reiffel
Match Referee – Ranjan Madugalle
Reserve Umpire – Allahudien Paleker
Match number – Test no. 2495
