Jayden Seales made an impressive return to first-class cricket as he took three crucial wickets for West Indies A Team against South Africa A on the opening day of the first four-day match at WIllowmoore Park, Benoni.
The home side batted first after winning the toss and posted 287-9. Openers TagenarineChanderpaul and Zachary McCaskie batted through a challenging 35 minutes before the close, and West Indies A got off to a solid start. The pair will resume Wednesday morning with Chanderpaul not out on 27 and McCaskie on 17, with the visitors on 46 without loss.
Seales last played a first-class match on the Test tour of Australia a year ago. He had surgery in December last year and went through rehab to return to the red ball format. “It was just about being consistent and trying to figure out the right lengths to cause batsmen problems. Here in South Africa, we know the ball will bounce a lot more than in the West Indies, so we didn’t want the batsmen leaving a lot of balls …. What we wanted was to have them playing a lot more,” Seales said after the day’s play.
“This three-match series here is very important for me. I got injured in Australia last so I would like to have a good tour here and make the team back to Australia for the Test series (in January 2024), where I would like to redeem myself and perform to the level that I know I am capable of.”
Seales bowled impressively to end with 3-23 from 15.5 overs, and fellow pacer Akeem Jordan supported with 3-61 from 18 overs. West Indies A defied three half-centuries from Keegan Petersen, whose 59 was the top score, fellow senior Test batsman Tony De Zorzi, who made 55, and the uncapped Clyde Fortuin, who gathered 53, before the home team declared about 50 minutes before the close.—INP
