Twitter Reactions: South Africa’s top-order provides slight edge to hosts on Day 1 of Johannesburg Test

West Indies vs South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images)

Courtesy of a dominant performance by the top-order hosts South Africa concluded Day 1 of the ongoing Johannesburg Test with a score of 311/7 against the West Indies. The two sides are currently indulged in the second and final red-ball contest at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. After comprehensively earning a win in the first Test, the Proteas continued to stamp their authority against the Windies on Day 1 of the second clash.

Temba Bavuma won the toss and decided to bat first in order to make the most of the batting-friendly conditions in Johannesburg. Notably, Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite made an impactful change as he got Gudakesh Motie into the XI in place of Shannon Gabriel. Openers Dean Elgar and star of the first Test – Aiden Markram put together a solid partnership as they got 76 runs in just 105 balls. However, Gudakesh Motie drew first blood as he got the important wicket of Elgar and broke the successful partnership. But the dismissal hardly had any impact on Markram as he continued to play his natural game.

Markram along with Tony de Zorzi played quite a few sumptuous cricketing shots to get the boundaries at regular intervals. The duo raised a 116-run stand as South Africa appeared in complete control of the contest. Just four runs shy of registering another century in the series, Motie sent Markram back to the dugout at an individual score of 96 runs off 139 balls. As the Windies were handed some respite, in came skipper Bavuma, who along with de Zorzi stitched another vital partnership. The lack of discipline with the ball saw the duo batters smash multiple boundaries and aggregate 56 runs between them.

De Zorzi hit 11 boundaries in his 85-run knock before the left-arm finger spinner, Motie claimed his third wicket of the day. However, in the last ten overs of the play on Day 1, the Windies got two wickets for just 25 runs. With Heinrich Klaasen still on the crease at the end of the day’s play, he will look to get the side to a big total on Day 2.

Here is how Twitter buzzed to play on Day 1-