Cottrell five-for sets up dominant day … Samuels strokes unbeaten ton

(CRICINFO) – If South Africa’s Test outfit thought taking on West Indies was going to be easy, Stiaan van Zyl will tell them it might not be quite so simple. He was the only member of the squad playing in Benoni, where the tourists dominated an Invitation XI with both bat and ball. Left-arm seamer Sheldon Cottrell claimed five wickets with a display of swing that sliced through the South Africans, with his first wicket coming in the sixth over and he barely stopped plucking them all the way through to the 37th, when the last man fell shortly after the second session began.

van Zyl was not one of Cottrell’s victims, though. He was dismissed by Jason Holder, after scoring just 23 and interestingly, van Zyl batted in his regular number three spot, not the number seven position he is expected to occupy during the first Test in JP Duminy’s absence, or the opening position he is targeting in the long term.
The South African Invitation side’s batting line-up didn’t contain any other big names and it showed when it was their number eight Aviwe Mgijima who top-scored with 35 and the only other contribution of significance came from Under-19 World Cup winning wicketkeeper-batsman Clyde Fortuin, who scored 34.
In reply, the West Indian batsmen were put on the back foot by Rory Kleinveldt, who was making his comeback from a groin injury, getting rid of Kraigg Brathwaite and Leon Johnson early.
But the visitors soon recovered, as Devon Smith, called up to the squad to replace Chris Gayle, and Marlon Samuels shared in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 182, which came at a rollicking 5.20 runs per over.
Samuels, the dominant partner, went to stumps on an unbeaten 102-ball 103, with 76 of his runs coming in fours, while Smith was on 83 off 144 balls, with a six and 12 fours.
Kleinveldt and Daryn Dupavillon were the only Invitation bowlers to concede less than four runs an over, while Beuran Hendricks, who returned from a stress fracture, put in 10 overs without any trouble.
SCORECARD

SA INVITATIONAL XI 1st innings
G. Cloete c & b Cottrell 5
D. Hendricks c Fudadin b Cottrell 13
S. van Zyl c Blackwood b Holder 23
K. Petersen c Fudadin b Cottrell 0
J. Nqolo b Cottrell 3
C. Fortuin b Benn 34
M. Mosehle run-out 6
A. Mgijima b Cottrell 35
R. Kleinveldt c Holder b Taylor 0
T. Shamsi lbw b Taylor 0
D. Dupavillon not out 0
Extras: (b-2, nb-4) 6
Total: (all out, 36.1 overs) 125
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-38, 3-38, 4-48, 5-48, 6-55, 7-124, 8-125, 9-125.
Bowling: Roach 6-1-30-0 (nb-2), Cottrell 6.1-2-16-5, Holder 6-1-22-1, Gabriel 5-0-14-0 (nb-2), Benn 8-1-29-1, Taylor 5-1-12-2.
WEST INDIES 1st innings
K. Brathwaite lbw b Kleinveldt 12
D. Smith not out 83
L. Johnson c van Zyl b Kleinveldt 0
M. Samuels not out 103
Extras: (b-5, lb-3, w-3, nb-8) 19
Total: (2 wkts, 47 overs) 217
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-35.
Bowling: Hendricks 10-4-46-0 (w-1), Dupavillon 7-1-25-0 (w-1), Engelbrecht 10-0-53-0 (w-1, nb-2), Kleinveldt 9-0-34-2 (nb-5), Shamsi 7-1-37-0, Mgijima 4-0-14-0 (nb-1).

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