West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite reckoned that not taking the lead despite bowling South Africa out for 160 in the first innings of the second Test was a key reason behind his team's 40-run loss in Providence.
Electing to bat, the West Indies bowlers led by Shamar Joseph's five-wicket haul had South Africa on the mat at 97 for 9. Dane Piedt and Nandre Burger then added a 63-run stand for the final wicket to take South Africa to 160. In reply West Indies were bowled out for 144, conceding a 16-run lead.
While Brathwaite agreed that South Africa's last-wicket stand was vital, but felt West Indies' batting effort in the first innings was "just not big enough."
"Yeah, if you look at it, obviously it was quite big," Brathwaite said on South Africa's last-wicket stand on the opening day of the Test. "But bowling them out for 160, I was happy. That partnership for them was, was good. You know, it's cricket where partnerships do happen. So, I won't really stress on that too much.
"But what I would say is our first innings total needed to be bigger. We needed to get a lead from it. I think that was very important. You can never complain about the bowlers' effort to bowl them out for 160 but yeah, the batting effort in the first innings just wasn't big enough. We had to fight back into the game. And, in the end, we fell short."
Despite losing the series 1-0 after the first Test ended in a draw, West Indies had a few positive takeaways from the two games. Shamar Joseph didn't play the first Test but came back to rattle the South Africa top order with 5 for 33 in the first innings. Jayden Seales was West Indies' highest wicket-taker with 12 which included 6 for 61 in the second innings in Providence while Jason Holder scored a half-century in the first innings. Brathwaite also singled out Alick Athanaze as someone who he sees scoring a "lot of Test hundreds".
"I think bowling-wise, you look at Shamar coming back in, not playing the first Test, and coming in bowling out South Africa on the first day. Jayden throughout the series, continued to keep coming despite the hot conditions. That was a positive," Brathwaite said. "You see the two spinners, one of the first time two spinners played together in the Caribbean, and they did well, in particular this game where both of them were under three runs an over. That's one thing we asked for, and that was great to see.
"I think Alick, his innings was important to continue to keep learning as batters. Alick has a world of potential. I can see him scoring a lot of Test hundreds, but we just got to keep thinking about our game, finding ways to improve. Pretty pleased with the bowling effort throughout the series, and batting-wise, we scored above 200 in three of the innings. So it is just for us to aim to do it more consistently, and that's always the task. We always hear about being consistent. And I think mentally it's to find ways to be better."
While the prospect of Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph and Seales in future Test matches serves as a delicious prospect, Brathwaite also pointed out that he is very excited about the batting unit.
"As I said, the future is very bright for our fast bowling unit, and we've still got Kemar Roach, with loads of experience on it. You know, he still has a lot of Test matches left in him. So it's very exciting," Brathwaite said. "But I must say, I'm very excited about the batting unit. I really think the line-up we have, can do the job. And obviously, I've been asking for more Test matches. We had five on the back. And yes, we didn't come out with guys averaging above 50. But I think once we learn from this, going forward will be easier, and obviously being mentally tough is most important in playing Test matches.
"So, I am excited for the fast bowlers, but I really believe that this top five can do a good job for West Indies. So, we just got to keep believing."