The thrill of a Test win

Denesh Ramdin

What a way to end 2007 – with my maiden Test victory!

In all the time I’ve been playing cricket – at junior, senior, regional and international level – I’ve never known such a feeling. It was simply awesome to experience winning a Test match for the first time, and against a team as strong as South Africa, after more than two years in the West Indies side.

In addition, the nature and tone of our success in Port Elizabeth - in that we executed our plans, dominated the match and finished it in four days - made the outcome all the better. It was very special as we had not won a Test match for more than two years and had never won in South Africa.

It was clearly a big shock to South Africa and their fans. They never expected us to win any matches but we’ve already beaten them twice on this tour; first in the Twenty20 international and now in the first of the three Tests. I don’t think they will take us for granted anymore and we can’t get lazy either. They will come back at us very hard in the second Test in Cape Town.

We honestly deserve the rewards we have reaped so far because we have been working hard as a team. We believed in ourselves, listened to our captain, stuck to our game plan and we came out on top at St George’s Park. Our coach was telling us to be “patient” in batting and bowling and that, if we kept focus, we would be able to put South Africa under pressure – and that’s exactly what happened.

Personally, I began to sense a Windies victory when we made early inroads in South Africa’s second innings. Having them reeling on 45 for 4 – with a target of 389 – was a huge boost in our quest. It set them back severely in their run-chase. Also, the pitch was a little difficult [to bat on] and we knew there was still something in it for our bowlers. Once we got Jacques Kallis, we continued to pick up wickets consistently and triumphed by 128 runs on the fourth evening.

It was truly a team effort, with all of us playing a part at some stage. However, I must say that having Chris [Gayle] back at the helm was a great lift for the guys. He is a real inspiration to us by the manner in which he bats and I think his being at the top of the [batting] order played on the minds of the South Africans. The way he and Daren [Ganga] took on the new-ball bowlers, Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini, and got us off to a fantastic start, both score-wise and psychologically. As captain, Chris also made a number of crucial decisions which bore fruit.

I had a decent match behind the stumps, taking four catches. I didn’t have to dive a lot as the bowlers kept the ball in the right areas. I was disappointed, though, that I didn’t make a contribution with the bat and I know it’s been a few Test matches since I have done so. It’s time I put some runs on the board for my team and I will be doing my utmost to rectify this situation quickly.

Relief wicketkeeper, Patrick Browne, has recently arrived from Barbados. Contrary to what some may think, I welcome his addition to the squad as this will allow me more opportunity to concentrate on my batting in the nets, knowing that someone else is around to share wicketkeeping duties at practice. It will definitely relieve some of the pressure on me.

As expected after such a significant achievement, the team spirit is even higher. The guys are continuing to get along well and are enjoying the challenge of playing against the No. 2 team in Test cricket. We are thriving on it.

We will enter today’s critical match at the picturesque Newlands ground confident and relaxed – but not complacent. More than ever now, we know what we are capable of. We just have to execute our strategies, be consistent and take our chances when they come.

Who knows, maybe by my next diary, we will have won the Test series.