South Africa vs West Indies 1st Test Tips

Tip Summary

• South Africa will be playing under the new leader Temba Bavuma in the first Test starting on Tuesday.
• West Indies have done slightly better in the Test format as they have won two of their last five matches.
• Both South Africa and West Indies are out of the race of reaching the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2023.

It will be the beginning of a new era for South Africa in the longest format of the game as there have been massive changes in the leadership group. The team will be playing under the new Test skipper Temba Bavuma and new coach Shukri Conrad when they will lock horns with West Indies in the two-match Test series.

The first Test of the two-match series between the two teams will be played from February 28, Tuesday to March 04, Saturday at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. The Proteas will be in a dire need of some momentum as they failed to score even a single win in their last five matches. 

South Africa’s most recent Test series loss came against Australia. They traveled to Australia for a three-match series in December and ended up losing by 2-0. Australia won the first two Tests by six wickets and innings and 182 runs respectively while the third match ended in a draw. The series’ defeat also diminished South Africa’s chances of making it to the final of the World Test Championship.

The consecutive losses resulted in Dean Elgar stepping down from his place as the captain and Temba Bavuma taking his place. As far as West Indies are concerned, they have also lacked in showing consistency in the Test format in the past few years. The team was out from the final race a long time back but they made a solid statement in their last Test match by defeating Zimbabwe.

Earlier this month, West Indies traveled to Zimbabwe for a three-match series. The first game resulted in a draw while the Indies won the second game by an inning and four runs. It was a stunning bowling performance by the Caribbean nation as they restricted Zimbabwe to scores of 115 and 173 runs in their two batting innings. 

Meanwhile, South Africa leads the head-to-head records between the two teams. They have played against each other 30 times and the Proteas have won 20 games while West Indies have only three victories to their name. 

3 beneficial player bets for SA vs WI 1st Test.