Top 3 bowling performances in West Indies-South Africa Tests

The first Test between West Indies and South Africa has shown cricket fans that fast bowlers rule the roost whenever these two teams meet. Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Jason Holder, and Anrich Nortje were all excellent with the ball.

Both nations have been renowned for their pace battery for several years now. The quick bowlers have often set the tone in cricketing contests between the teams. Andre Nel's fierce 6 for 32 blew away West Indies at Bridgetown in 2005. At Port Elizabeth in 1998, Curtly Ambrose picked 6/51, where he bested the likes of Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, and Jonty Rhodes in a fiery bowling performance.

Take a look at the top three such performances by the quicksters below:

---

1. Dale Steyn 6/34 vs West Indies at Centurion, 2014:

Dale Steyn on fire against the West Indies

Dale Steyn has 48 wickets in West Indies-South Africa Tests. He is placed sixth on the all-time wicket-takers in Tests between the two countries. Interestingly, he has the best average (19.62) among all those bowlers.

West Indies had to face the wrath of Dale Steyn at Centurion back in 2014. South Africa batted first and declared after posting an imposing total of 552/5. Hashim Amla's 208, AB De Villiers's 152, and Stiaan Van Zyl's 101 laid the foundation for a massive first innings total. In response, the inexperienced West Indies line-up could muster only 201 runs.

Surprisingly, Dale Steyn didn't pick a single wicket in this innings.

However, there was further bad news for Steyn as he pulled his hamstring in the very first over of the second innings. South Africa had to miss out on their premier pacer for a substantial amount of time. This enabled the West Indian batters to get their innings on track.

However, there was no stopping Steyn after he returned. He scalped Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin in seven deliveries to take the wind out of the Windies' sails. Steyn then helped clean up the tail as well to hand South Africa victory by an innings and 220 runs.

---

2. Makhaya Ntini 7/37 vs West Indies at Port of Spain, 2005:

Ntini on fire

Makhaya Ntini went wicketless in the first Test of South Africa's tour of West Indies, 2005. The game ended in a high-scoring draw.

Skipper Graeme Smith would've loved to see his faster men knock the wind out of the West Indian batting efforts in the second Test and Ntini delivered with a fantastic performance.

The pacer picked 6/95 in the first innings, blowing away the top order before a characteristic Brian Lara knock saved the West Indies. Thanks in no part to his masterful 196, West Indies reached a total of 347.

The South Africans batted well to take a lead of 51 runs in the second innings, but one couldn't rule out the possibility of a West Indian fightback.

Makhaya Ntini after trapping Darren Powell LBW

Makhaya Ntini, however, ended any semblance of a comeback and returned to torment the West Indies in the second innings. He picked up a fantastic 7/37 and almost single-handedly dismantled the West Indian middle and lower order. South Africa comfortably chased down a fourth-innings target of 144 to win the match by eight wickets. Ntini's match figures of 13/132 remain the best in West Indies-South Africa Tests to this day.

---

3. Curtly Ambrose 6/34 vs South Africa at Bridgetown, 1992:

The dangerous Curtly Ambrose broke many dreams in the 90s

Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh were the reason West Indies were competitive in the bowling department long after losing the claim to being the best team in the world.

The two men were in top form in the fateful tour of South Africa in 1998. Ambrose picked up 13 wickets at an average of 23.76. However, he was largely let down by his team's batting across the tour.

Ambrose's best efforts came in the inaugural Test between the two countries.

#OnThisDay in 1992, Curtly Ambrose rocked South Africa with figures of 6/34 on the final day of their one-off Test 💨#WIPlayers #WIPA #WestIndiesCricket #TestCricket pic.twitter.com/568qB9vL3f

— WIPA (@wiplayers) April 23, 2021

As was often the case in this era, the touring side saw a glimmer of hope when they were required to chase a relatively low 201 in the fourth innings. However, South Africa had no answer to the sheer pace and skill of Curtly Ambrose, who returned figures of 6/34 to derail the chase and lead the West Indies to victory.