Cape Town, South Africa: Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla hit half-centuries as South Africa threatened to cash in where the West Indies missed out on day two of the third and final test at Newlands on Saturday.
While the West Indies could muster only 329 after winning the toss and electing to bat first on a good pitch, South Africa closed the second day on 227-3, with Amla unbeaten on 55 and AB de Villiers looking dangerous on 32 not out.
“We're in a really good position. The base of scoring big runs is there - three down with AB and Hash there. The way we normally bat we would hope that we would get a big score,” Du Plessis said.
“Tomorrow morning will be a challenge for us because the ball does nip around a bit in the morning session, but if we can get through the first hour unscathed then this team will have its eyes set on a total that will hopefully be big enough to either bat once or have a nice lead on them.”
The West Indies earned a share of the honors on day one by posting 276-6, but South Africa stamped its authority on the match on the second morning as it took just 10 overs to wrap up the West Indian innings.
Jermaine Blackwood began the second day unbeaten on 45, and went to his half-century in the third over of the day when he drove Dale Steyn through extra cover for four.
But like Leon Johnson and Denesh Ramdin on day one, Blackwood failed to turn his half-century into a considerable score as he was trapped lbw for a top score of 56 in the fast bowler's next over.
With the lower order opting to go down swinging, Jason Holder was caught at mid-on for 23 off Steyn, and Jerome Taylor top-edged a Morne Morkel delivery to fine leg to depart for 13.
Morkel killed the innings off soon after when he had Sulieman Benn caught at mid-on for 5 to finish with figures of 2-83, while Steyn had 4-78 in 25 overs.
“We were probably about 70 runs short - 400 was a par score on this wicket,” Holder said.
South Africa made a brisk start to its reply thanks to Alviro Petersen, as well as a flurry of wides and no-balls, as it raced to 47 without loss in its first nine overs.
Dean Elgar's dismissal for 8 on the stroke of lunch pegged it back momentarily, as the left-hander was trapped lbw by Holder.
Petersen advanced to 42 and shared in a stand of 56 with Du Plessis after lunch, but his spell without a test fifty was extended to 10 innings when he was run out for 42 by a direct hit from Blackwood.
Du Plessis and Amla added 53 for the third wicket either side of tea, before their partnership ended with Du Plessis being stumped for 68 when he tried to force the pace against the bowling of left-arm spinner Benn.
Amla and De Villiers took control thereafter, adding 70 in a stand that was halted only when rain swept in from Table Mountain to end the day slightly prematurely.
