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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Proteas take on West Indies in the final Test of the two-match series starting on Thursday, 15 August in Guyana with all to play for after the first Test ended in a draw with excessive rainfall throughout the five days. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Africa were in the driving seat throughout the first match in Trinidad and Tobago but didn’t have enough time to bowl out West Indies. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 357 runs South Africa set in the first innings was their second-highest innings total in the past two years. Opener Tony de Zorzi and skipper Temba Bavuma scored half-centuries, but nobody was able to move on to bigger scores — something the team is looking to fix. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“From a batting point of view, the batters being a lot more ruthless,” Bavuma said on what improvements he wanted from the side. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2317988\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/TL_2244470-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"bavuma proteas ruthless\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" /> <em>Temba Bavuma of South Africa, right, bats while Joshua da Silva of West Indies keeps wicket on day two of the first Test at Queen’s Park Oval on 8 August 2024 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo: Daniel Prentice / Gallo Images / Getty Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The guys who got an opportunity to get in to really go on and get a big score for the team. That gives us a lot more time from a bowling point of view. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The bowlers did as best as they could considering what was in front of them. It was a miraculous effort from Keshav [Maharaj] basically bowling half the overs. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“From the bowling front, there’s not much more that I could ask from the guys. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s more the batting, but I think that’s a case of not having played a lot of Test cricket of late. I’m confident that if us batters get in those positions again we’ll be able to get a big score for the team.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>A bit of rain </b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some rainfall is forecast for early on day one, but the weather should not play as big a role as it did in the first Test match in Trinidad and Tobago. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The draw there put South Africa’s World Test Championship (WTC) final ambitions in doubt, with the team now needing to win all their remaining matches to secure a spot in next year’s final.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the team was focused on the present, said Bavuma, adding that there was no pressure to win the second Test to climb up the standings.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s not any more pressure than it was coming here to the West Indies,” the captain said. “We weren’t expecting things to be simple and easy.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“For us to get to the final of the World Test Championship, that’s a long road. Our focus coming here was just being successful in foreign conditions, especially being a young team and just building confidence.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Within the Proteas batting lineup, De Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham and Ryan Rickelton have not played more than a handful of Tests, while left-arm fast bowler Nandre Burger, who Bavuma hinted could play in the second Test, only has two Test caps. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The World Test Championship is quite far away, we lie eighth or ninth [in fact, seventh], so there’s quite a lot of work that we need to do,” said Bavuma. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It won’t help us to look that far ahead. We’d like to stay focused on what’s in front of us now.” </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bavuma said trying to go hard too early, because of possible rainfall, could lead to the side’s downfall, especially if the pitch plays as low and slow as it did in the first Test. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We want to win the game,” said Bavuma. “That’s where our preparation is at. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We’ll take whatever confidence we can from the last game. We felt like we played good cricket. It’s a pity that because of the weather, we weren’t able to get a full game. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We want to win the game and seal the series.” </span><b>DM</b>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Proteas take on West Indies in the final Test of the two-match series starting on Thursday, 15 August in Guyana with all to play for after the first Test ended in a draw with excessive rainfall throughout the five days. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Africa were in the driving seat throughout the first match in Trinidad and Tobago but didn’t have enough time to bowl out West Indies. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 357 runs South Africa set in the first innings was their second-highest innings total in the past two years. Opener Tony de Zorzi and skipper Temba Bavuma scored half-centuries, but nobody was able to move on to bigger scores — something the team is looking to fix. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“From a batting point of view, the batters being a lot more ruthless,” Bavuma said on what improvements he wanted from the side. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2317988\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2317988\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/TL_2244470-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"bavuma proteas ruthless\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" /> <em>Temba Bavuma of South Africa, right, bats while Joshua da Silva of West Indies keeps wicket on day two of the first Test at Queen’s Park Oval on 8 August 2024 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo: Daniel Prentice / Gallo Images / Getty Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The guys who got an opportunity to get in to really go on and get a big score for the team. That gives us a lot more time from a bowling point of view. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The bowlers did as best as they could considering what was in front of them. It was a miraculous effort from Keshav [Maharaj] basically bowling half the overs. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“From the bowling front, there’s not much more that I could ask from the guys. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s more the batting, but I think that’s a case of not having played a lot of Test cricket of late. I’m confident that if us batters get in those positions again we’ll be able to get a big score for the team.”</span>\r\n<h4><b>A bit of rain </b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some rainfall is forecast for early on day one, but the weather should not play as big a role as it did in the first Test match in Trinidad and Tobago. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The draw there put South Africa’s World Test Championship (WTC) final ambitions in doubt, with the team now needing to win all their remaining matches to secure a spot in next year’s final.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the team was focused on the present, said Bavuma, adding that there was no pressure to win the second Test to climb up the standings.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s not any more pressure than it was coming here to the West Indies,” the captain said. “We weren’t expecting things to be simple and easy.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“For us to get to the final of the World Test Championship, that’s a long road. Our focus coming here was just being successful in foreign conditions, especially being a young team and just building confidence.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Within the Proteas batting lineup, De Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham and Ryan Rickelton have not played more than a handful of Tests, while left-arm fast bowler Nandre Burger, who Bavuma hinted could play in the second Test, only has two Test caps. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The World Test Championship is quite far away, we lie eighth or ninth [in fact, seventh], so there’s quite a lot of work that we need to do,” said Bavuma. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It won’t help us to look that far ahead. We’d like to stay focused on what’s in front of us now.” </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bavuma said trying to go hard too early, because of possible rainfall, could lead to the side’s downfall, especially if the pitch plays as low and slow as it did in the first Test. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We want to win the game,” said Bavuma. “That’s where our preparation is at. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We’ll take whatever confidence we can from the last game. We felt like we played good cricket. It’s a pity that because of the weather, we weren’t able to get a full game. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We want to win the game and seal the series.” </span><b>DM</b>",
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Temba Bavuma of South Africa, right, bats while Joshua da Silva of West Indies keeps wicket on day two of the first Test at Queen’s Park Oval on 8 August 2024 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. (Photo: Daniel Prentice / Gallo Images / Getty Images)