Temba Bavuma lamented a lack of time after South Africa were held to a draw by West Indies in the first Test of their two-match series.
A match heavily impacted by rain concluded on Sunday, with South Africa declaring early on 173-5, but subsequently failing to bowl West Indies out in a little over two sessions.
The Windies reached 201-5 at stumps, chasing a target of 298, with Alick Athanaze (98) superbly marshalling the innings.
It left a Proteas bowling group that were already one player short – South Africa having gone with an extra batter for the first Test – frustrated.
“From our side, we tried our best to get a result in our favour,” said Bavuma.
“But the wicket didn’t break up as much as we expected. In the end, it was a good, competitive game of cricket.
“We went in with an extra batter as a cushion. As batters, we would like to be a bit more ruthless and convert those fifties into hundreds.
“We lost time because of the weather. With the bowling resources we had, we tried our best.
“A little bit more time and things could have been different.”
Keshav Maharaj took 4-88 for South Africa, with Kagiso Rabada (1-38) the only other Proteas bowler to do any damage to the Windies during their second innings.
“I pride myself on playing Test cricket,” said Maharaj. “I always relish a chance to bowl and the conditions suited me.
“I tried to keep repeating the process and keep things simple.”
Windies captain Kraigg Brathwaite, meanwhile, was delighted with the grit his team displayed with the bat.
“Happy with our batting group,” he said.
“The guys were quite positive, so [I’m] proud of the batting unit. We believed we could get those runs.
“It wasn’t going to be easy. We need to keep going from strength to strength.”
The second and final Test starts on Thursday. (Sportsmax)
