News

Ramdin hopes for a WI fightback

Despite being blown away with more than five sessions left in the game, Denesh Ramdin remains confident his team has what it takes to challenge South Africa

Despite being blown away with more than five sessions left in the game, crashing to their heaviest defeat against South Africa, losing their best bowler, Kemar Roach, to an ankle injury for the second Test and a reserve batsman, Assad Fudadin, to a hand injury, Denesh Ramdin remains confident his team has what it takes to challenge South Africa.
"We do believe we have the resources to take 20 South African wickets," Ramdin said. "I just don't think we adjusted well enough to the pitches here - we bowled too short. The first couple wickets we got on the first morning the guys got caught behind. If we look back now we can see we bowled too short to AB [de Villiers] and Hashim [Amla] who scored many runs square of the wicket."
SuperSport Parks' surface is the spiciest to be used this series and was expected to offer the seamers plenty which may have tempted West Indies' quicks to opt for shorter lengths. However, as Vernon Philander noted after the third days' play, the strip on which this Test was being played started off slower than normal and quickened up towards the end of the game. Although there was always assistance for the quicks, with some extra bounce about and a few cracks opening up, a fuller length proved to be successful early on with the short ball only coming into play through Dale Steyn on the fourth morning.
His slicing spell, which resulted in a return of 6 for 34, exposed the other West Indian weakness - lack of adjustment from their batsmen against a class attack. "We know they're a very good bowling line-up and we shouldn't have given them any opportunities. We need to be more disciplined in the batting department - not go after wide balls, be smart," Ramdin said. "We need to bat for longer sessions. It's important for guys that get starts to carry on and get a big hundred. No one did that."
West Indies did not have a single half-century across both innings and were made to look out of their depth by a dominant South African outfit. Some of that may be down to lack of adequate preparation. Although they were in the country for two-and-a-half weeks before the start of the series, they only had one three-day practice match, which was reduced to two days. That was also their only sighting of South Africa's debutant Stiaan van Zyl, who scored a century on debut.
Ramdin confirmed West Indies did not have "much footage" of the South Africans they were less familiar with but now that they have seen them first-hand and are headed to the only venue where they achieved a Test victory in South Africa, Port Elizabeth, he is hopeful of a comeback.
"Hopefully after this game we can refocus and in Port Elizabeth, create some chances," he said. "We'll take the positives from this game and the memories of our last win in Port Elizabeth, but having said that cricket is played on the day. Everyone has to their A-game being 1-0 down in this series. It's tough to beat this No.1 South African team but hopefully we can give them a fight."

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent