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Barbados: South Africa have registered an emphatic 7-wicket victory over West Indies to win the 3-match Test series 2-0.
They chased down the target of 47 runs with minimum of fuss. Although Kemar Roach showed aggression and picked up three wickets but that was not enough as they were defending a mediocre target.
Johan Botha (7-102) bagged the Man-of-the-Match award for his superb bowling while Dale Steyn was awarded the Man-of-the-series for his tremendous aggression throughout the Test series as he picked up 15 wickets.
Chris Gayle finally won the toss and decided to have a bat. But soon after that they squandered the advantage of batting first on a wicket which looked to be a turner, as they lost both their openers in no time.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Narsingh Deonarine tried to steady the innings but after adding 55 runs for the third wicket, Johan Botha (4-56) broke the partnership and sent both the batsmen back to the hut. He further dented their chances of scoring big in the first innings by picking up the wicket of last match centurion Brendan Nash.
Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin tried to pull things back with a 76-run stand for the sixth wicket but once they departed the innings got folded for 231 runs on the first day. Jacques Kallis (2-36) and Dale Steyn (3-37) bowled with whippy pace and purpose and the Windies had no answers to the brutal short-pitch attack from them. There was certainly no demon in the wicket and most of the wickets fell due to the poor shot selection. None of the batsmen showed any intent to stay at the wicket as they lacked the technique to handle the short-pitch stuff.
In reply, Proteas also lost couple of quick wickets but skipper Graeme Smith (70) and Jacques Kallis (43) stitched in a vital partnership of 62 runs for the fourth wicket and kept the hopes alive for the visitors. Sulieman Benn (6-81) then got into the action and ended the partnership. But after that we witnessed a record sixth wicket partnership of 134 runs between AB de Villiers (73) and Ashwell Prince unbeaten 78 which handed the South Africans upper hand in the Test match.
South Africa managed to score 346 runs in the first innings, thereby getting a handy lead of 115 runs. West Indies got off to a worst possible start in the second innings as Dale Steyn once again bowled with fire and venom to completely bully the hosts' top order. The demolition work was continued by the spin duo of Johan Botha and Paul Harris in the last session yesterday and Morne Morkel finished that this morning as West Indies were bundled out for 161, setting a target of 47 runs for the Proteas to win the Test series 2-0.
Chanderpaul (71) fought a lone battle for West Indies and remained unbeaten. Well, that is truly an abject performance from West Indies and they seem to be going deeper into the hole as they extend their win-less streak in Tests to 13 since their win over England in early 2009. Their batting looked to find the lost touch on a flat track at St Kitts in the second Test but once again faltered on a deck which offered plenty for both the seamers and spinners.
Proteas finish their successful tour of Caribbean by dominating the T20I series 2-0, ODI series 5-0 and Test series 2-0.
Brief score
West Indies 231 (Bravo 61, Botha 4-56, Steyn 3-37) and 161 (Chanderpaul 71*, Morkel 3-33, Steyn 3-36)
South Africa 346 (Prince 78*, de Villiers 73, Benn 6-81) and 49 for 3 (Amla 27*, Roach 3-22)
Result South Africa won by seven wickets
MOM Johan Botha (South Africa)
Man of the series Dale Steyn (South Africa)
