West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite was happy with their performance in the first Test against South Africa but stressed that his team needs to improve their performance in the second Test with the outcome of the two-match series still uncertain.
After fighting out a hard-fought draw in the first encounter in Trinidad and Tobago, Brathwaite is confident his team can perform stronger in the crucial match to secure a 1-0 series victory in Guyana and, more importantly, a point to improve their position in the ICC Test Championship, where they currently sit bottom of the table with just one win.
“I think it’s important to score good runs in the first innings. That’s something we’ve discussed as a batting line-up. We have to be disciplined with our pitching. I thought the first game was decent but we just have to aim higher,” Braithwaite said in the pre-match press conference.
Brathwaite looked with a mixture of relief and determination as he reflected on a rain-affected opening match of the series, one that his team had been prepared to lose until Alick Athanadze’s impressive 92 on the final day and poor weather conditions played a part.
Alick Athanadze produced a brilliant batting display in the second innings of the first Test. (AFP)
Several West Indies batsmen started in both innings but could not sustain the attack. The scores in the match were 357 for South Africa, declared score of 173 for 3, and 233 for the Caribbean side, declared score of 201 for 5.
“Obviously you can’t control the weather. Batting-wise, I think it’s all about the total first. I think we could have scored more runs. So, like I said, I think that was our big aim to get a good run in the first innings. And bowling-wise, obviously the pitch wasn’t very good, especially for the fast bowlers. There wasn’t much spin on them in the first innings either,” Braithwaite said.
“But I think we played pretty disciplinedly. The boys got more than two runs in the innings so I’m happy with that. But I think it’s important to play a good game overall. Batting-wise, of course we have to be there to party. The first innings is going to be very important on this pitch and bowling-wise, I think dot balls are going to be very important,” he added.
The Barbadian also stressed the importance of keeping the pressure on South Africa, especially with the Providence pitch expected to be low and slow, similar to last week’s game at Queen’s Park Oval. If that happens, Brathwaite believes a more dogged and focused effort will be key this time around.
Indeed, the inclusion of Guyana-born Shamar Joseph is a sign that West Indies are looking to make the most of the situation.
“To be honest, it’s a similar type of surface to Trinidad in the sense that it’s slow. Obviously, some of the Guyanese players in the team know it better than most of the others, so I think the communication between the players is good. We all know it’s the slowest pitch out there, so it’s just a matter of working out how we as individual players are going to score runs and, of course, bowl well,” Braithwaite reasoned.
He continued: “We’ve had conversations from England about games that didn’t go to plan. We’ve got one Test match left before we have a little break until the next Test series so it’s important that we finish strong and we believe in that.”
“Obviously in Trinidad I’m proud of the guys and the way they played the second time around. The guys were positive and that was good to see. They had that drive. So we’re going to work really hard and try to win this last game.”
Finally, Brathwaite believed this crucial match would be an opportunity for the West Indies players to grow and showcase their abilities on the international stage and offered words of encouragement to Athanadze.
“I will encourage him to play his own style. We saw him sweep the ball a lot in the last game and I know he is very good at sweeping the ball. So, this game will be more of the same – not stopping shots, just playing better. He has full support from the whole team and we know he can get the job done so it’s encouraging,” the captain concluded.