West Indies coach Stuart Williams has promised a fight as the Proteas target an emphatic win.
The South Africans need just 115, with nine wickets remaining, to seal the three-match series at 2-0.
But the West Indians, at one stage after the rain relented mid-afternoon on Monday, were in a good position at 3-182, only to blow it and collapse to 215 all out before the sun went over the mountain.
The West Indies manager Richie Richardson had emphasised the point the previous day, saying that he believed his men had learned from previous collapses to realise what was needed. ‘We have to work on turning those 40s and 50s into big hundreds. A lot of the players are young and inexperienced but they have the potential,’ he said.
But all he got was seven wickets going down for 33 runs. It was sparked by Marlon Samuels having a go at off-spinner Simon Harmer.
‘We were building nicely. It was just an awful shot,’ Williams said.
‘I think we just missed the moment. That’s the moment in the game where everything fell away,’ he said. ‘This is international cricket and we just have to seize the moment. You have to respect your opposition at all times and we didn’t do that. They’re not No. 1 in the world by mistake.’
In almost an admission of defeat, he added: ‘What I will take from here is consistency, especially in the bowlers. If we can learn from that, we will be on the right track.
‘We have some positives like Marlon averaging over 50,’ he said. ‘And in the first innings of this game, we bowled out South Africa. We had three run-outs. Even though we don’t have a bowler who took five or six wickets, we still worked hard.’
The problem, though, was batting depth. ‘Our lower order never really fronted up and we spoke about it all along. It’s difficult; it’s stressful but you still have to find a way.,’ he said.
South Africa paceman Morne Morkel admitted that Samuels was a key wicket. ‘He was one of their stand-out batters so it was important to put him under pressure early on,” Morkel said. ‘We know him – if he hits, he hits. But [if] he misses, he is out.’
Photo: Backpagepix
