Here is the World Test Championship Points Table following the opening match between South Africa and the West Indies.

Kagiso Rabada led a potent pace attack that helped South Africa defeat the West Indies by 87 runs in the first Test. The first match of the two-match Test series between the two teams took place at Centurion’s SuperSport Park.

South Africa was dismissed for 116 runs on Day 3, setting the Windies a target of 247 runs to reach.

The Proteas bowling unit proceeded to completely dominate the game after Kagiso Rabada delivered the first strikes and worked in combination with Marco Jansen to claim four wickets for only 20 runs.

The striking bowling performance turned out to be the deciding factor in the race for runs between the two teams. Jermaine Blackwood had responsibility for organizing the attempts to carry out a rescue operation following a top-order collapse.

A determined Blackwood scored a half-century from 51 balls by consistently hitting boundaries. However, the batter eventually caved in to pressure and was out for 79 runs off 93 balls by speed spearhead Rabada with little to no assistance from the rest of the team.

Anrich Nortje, a seasoned bowler, and Gerald Coetzee each added a wicket, and Marco Jansen claimed two. Rabada, though, claimed a six-wicket haul and reached a significant milestone thanks to his expert performance. The talented pacer became the fifth bowler to accomplish the mark in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) by taking 100 wickets. As a result, the hosts won by a score of 87 runs and now lead the two-game series 1-0.

What the World Test Championship race implies as a result of South Africa’s victory

Strictly speaking, the Proteas’ chances were already down as a result of Australia’s repeated assaults. Also, the squad had to rely on the outcomes of the other teams competing for a position in the competition’s finals due to its winless tour to Australia.

As they defeated the dominating Australians in the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Team India, who is now in a good position on the points chart, moved closer to securing a spot. Hence, the Proteas will need more than a sweep to win the series against the Windies.

Moreover, Australia must win or tie to guarantee a spot in the finals of the international ICC competition. The Rohit Sharma-led squad from India will need to win one of their final two red-ball matches against Australia in order to qualify.

This essentially means that South Africa’s chances of qualifying for the red-ball ICC event’s summit match are exceedingly unlikely. In any event, they will aim to play for dignity and sweep the Caribbean team in the series.