Markram makes his mark, but Windies fight back to even out first day against SA

At SuperSport Park, Centurion

It may have been a red-letter day for the returning Aiden Markram, but it was the West Indies who bedded in at the end of day one as the far happier side against South Africa on Tuesday.

After going through the gears for the better part of the day through Markram's sixth Test ton, the West Indies fought back to ensure South Africa finished the day on 314/8.

On the scale of probabilities, it was a failed day for a reconstructed South African Test side that saw two debutants in Gerald Coetzee and Tony de Zorzi, while Senuran Muthusamy played his first Test in more than two years.

In slipping from 221/1 to their eventual total, the Proteas wasted a glorious start on a pitch that didn't offer too many demons outside of variable bounce here and there.

Markram's first hundred in Tests since his 108 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in February 2021 - and the first by a South African batter since Sarel Erwee and Kyle Verryenne doubled up against New Zealand in Christchurch last year - could have and should have been the platform for a bigger total, especially after Temba Bavuma won his first Test toss under bright sunshine and chose to bat first.

The West Indian bowlers didn't always string together the necessary bursts of pressure overs to check the run rate, but they sensed there was a gap after De Zorzi (28) was foolishly run out when he chanced for a third run off Tagenarine Chanderpaul's arm.

It was the foot in the door the visitors needed, from where the spirited and unyielding Alzarri Joseph (3/60) then accounted for Temba Bavuma (0) with a searing in-swinger two balls later that trapped the new Proteas Test captain leg-before.

Nearly four overs later, he speared a yorker through Markram's until-then