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EraSince making his international debut in January this year, Hamar Joseph has been welcomed and celebrated by people in his native Guyana, across the Caribbean and beyond. The 24-year-old former security guard demolished Australia at the Gabba. He was named Player of the Series and awarded the ICC Men’s Player of the Month, the first West Indian player to receive the honour.
He then signed a contract with Lucknow Supergiants of the Indian Premier League and was selected in the West Indies squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
However, his career is only just beginning and the product from Balakara is yet to play at the highest level in front of a home crowd, having been confined to the bench at the World Cup, waiting for his chance to impress the Caribbean fans.
Finally, Joseph got his chance to make his debut on home soil when he was named in the final XI for the West Indies’ second Test against South Africa in Providence on Thursday. He did everything that could be asked of him.
South Africa chose to play their batsmen but they may have regretted that decision after Tony de Zorzi gave the bat to Jayden Seales and Joseph’s steady pace and full length allowed Aiden Markram to take 14 runs.
Two balls later, with the score still at 20, Joseph sent South African captain Temba Bavuma back to the dressing room, leg-blocked in front of the wicket, unable to fight back.
Tristan Stubbs and David Bedingham combined for a small recovery, scoring another 57 runs before Stubbs was caught for 26 off a delivery by veteran all-rounder Jason Holder.
Bedingham teamed up with wicketkeeper Kyle Vereen to score 21 runs but the former was bowled full after Joseph was out.
Vereen seemed to have Jayden Sears pinned down but in the 30th over he had new partner Vian Mulder take a strike. This was Walder’s defeat as he was caught by the young fast bowler from Trinidad and Tobago.
Keshav Maharaj did not last long and was the third runner to concede a zero in the innings for South Africa. Kagiso Rabada was the fourth runner to concede a zero as he took the third wicket for Sears. Vereen was finally bowled in the 37th over, leaving his team three runs short of three figures with just one wicket to spare. He dismissed Joseph for 21, taking five runs for his team.
But here the fairytale for the hosts began to unravel. Danny Peed (38 not out) and Nandre Berg (23) put up a tough fight and put up the all-important partnership for the visitors. South Africa were eventually bowled out for 160.
Joseph took 5-33 from 14 innings. Sears was decent with 3-45 from 14 innings. Holder (1-26) and spin bowler Gudakesh Moti (1-28) also did well, while Jomel Warrican bowled 8 scoreless innings and scored 19 runs.
“I personally think it’s a great accomplishment for myself and the team,” Joseph said. “I think you can’t do anything without the support of the team. I just feel like moving forward I just want to continue to do the best I can and do the best I can for the team.”
Joseph noted that the wicket was surprisingly resilient, which helped the bowlers despite captain Craig Brathwaite’s prediction on Wednesday that the game would be quiet. But South African bowlers also took note of the success enjoyed by the home fast bowlers.
Berg homered Mikael Lewis in the second innings. Brathwaite did the same in the eighth over, hitting Mulder for a single. Two overs later, Alik Athanaze was caught and hit Mulder for a single. His compatriot Kavim Hodge hit just four runs before being caught by Mulder. And Kathy Carty eventually lost to Berg for 26 runs in just his second over.
Joshua Da Silva was the sixth wicket to fall with 4 runs, making the score 56-6, which was worse for South Africa. Holder and Motie managed to claw back, scoring another 41 runs before Motie was ruled LBW by Maharaj.
West Indies will resume play on Friday morning at 87-7, 63 runs behind the visitors. Holder is currently on 33, with Warrican, Joseph and Sears in action. Joseph is looking forward to the challenge.
“Jason Holder is the senior batsman there and all we have to do is support him as much as we can and try to build partnerships. It’s important at this stage of the game that we’re in, so partnerships are a big thing.”
The team lost 17 wickets on the first day, and the game was as exciting as expected. There will certainly be more twists and turns in the game, but this game will almost certainly determine the outcome of the two-match series. (Task Force)
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