West Indies vs South Africa Tests June 2021: South Africa Win 2-0 — de Kock 237 Runs (141* + 96) Player of Series, Rabada Five-Wicket Haul, Both Tests at St Lucia
South Africa won the West Indies Test series June 2021 by 2-0 — both Tests at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia. Quinton de Kock scored 237 runs (141* in the 1st Test, 96 in the 2nd Test) to win Player of the Series. Kagiso Rabada took a five-wicket haul in the 1st Test. South Africa won the 1st Test by an innings and 63 runs (WI 97 & 162; SA 322). South Africa won the 2nd Test by 158 runs (SA 298 & 174; WI 149 & 165). It was South Africa's first away Test series win since their 2017 win in New Zealand. Dean Elgar captained South Africa; Kraigg Brathwaite captained West Indies.
South Africa won the West Indies Test series June 2021 by 2-0 — both Tests at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia (bio-bubble single venue). Quinton de Kock scored 237 runs (141* in the 1st Test, 96 in the 2nd Test) to win Player of the Series. 1st Test (June 10-12): South Africa won by an innings and 63 runs — West Indies 97 & 162; South Africa 322; de Kock 141*; Kagiso Rabada five-wicket haul. 2nd Test (June 18-21): South Africa won by 158 runs — South Africa 298 & 174; West Indies 149 & 165; de Kock 96. It was South Africa's first away Test series win since their 2017 series win in New Zealand. Dean Elgar captained South Africa; Kraigg Brathwaite captained West Indies.
De Kock 141* and Rabada's Five-Wicket Haul: The 1st Test Result in 3 Days
Quinton de Kock scoring 141* in South Africa's 322 first innings — West Indies bowled out for 97 in their first innings (Rabada's five-wicket haul contributing to the collapse) and 162 in their second innings — gave the 1st Test at Daren Sammy its 3-day result: South Africa winning by an innings and 63 runs without needing a second innings of their own. De Kock's 141* — his first Test century of the 2021 bilateral, batting as South Africa's wicketkeeper-batter with the attacking strokeplay that had characterized his batting across multiple bilateral formats — combined with Rabada's 5 wickets (his first five-for in 33 innings, a period during which he had been struggling to reproduce his earlier bilateral five-wicket haul frequency) gave the 1st Test its dual match-winning individual contributions: de Kock batting South Africa to 322 and Rabada bowling West Indies out for 97 in their first innings. West Indies' 97 all out — the lowest bilateral total by either side in the two-match series — confirmed that the Daren Sammy surface in St Lucia (and the pitch prepared for the 1st Test bio-bubble match) assisted South Africa's pace bowling combination of Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Wiaan Mulder more than West Indies' batting (Brathwaite, Hope, Bonner, Chase) could resist.
South Africa's First Away Series Win Since 2017: The Bilateral's Historical Context
South Africa winning 2-0 in West Indies in June 2021 — their first away Test series win since their 2017 series win in New Zealand — gave the bilateral its historical significance beyond the individual bilateral result: South Africa ending a four-year away bilateral winless sequence (covering tours to India, Australia, England, and Sri Lanka across 2017-2021 without winning a bilateral away from home) by winning 2-0 in the Caribbean confirmed that Dean Elgar's South Africa, in their first bilateral under his Test captaincy, had the bilateral quality to produce an away series win against West Indies' home conditions. The bio-bubble context — both Tests at the same Daren Sammy venue without player-movement between different grounds — gave the bilateral an unusual structural characteristic: West Indies playing both home Tests on the same St Lucia pitch rather than travelling between their multiple bilateral venues (Barbados, Trinidad, Antigua, Jamaica, Grenada) that normally diversify home bilateral conditions. Brathwaite's West Indies, restricted to the single St Lucia venue due to COVID-era bio-bubble requirements, facing de Kock's 237 series runs and Rabada's returning five-wicket bilateral form, could not produce the batting resistance (Roston Chase's 62 in the 1st Test second innings being West Indies' highest individual score across both Tests) that might have contested South Africa's bilateral result.
West Indies vs South Africa Tests June 2021 in Context
The South Africa tour of West Indies Tests June 2021 — Daren Sammy National Cricket Ground, Gros Islet, St Lucia (1st Test South Africa won innings and 63 runs; 2nd Test South Africa won 158 runs) — produced South Africa's 2-0 bilateral win with de Kock's 237-run Player of the Series (141* + 96), Rabada's 1st Test five-wicket haul, and South Africa's first away bilateral series win since their 2017 New Zealand tour as the bilateral's cricket landmarks. Elgar's South Africa — beginning the WTC 2021-23 cycle with an away bilateral series win — followed this West Indies result with subsequent bilateral tours (India 2021-22 where SA won 2-1; Australia 2022-23 where SA lost 2-0) that confirmed the bilateral competitive character that the June 2021 West Indies sweep established for Elgar's South Africa Test era. De Kock's 237 runs — across just 2 innings in each Test — giving the bilateral its most efficient individual bilateral batting performance of his South Africa career to that point in away conditions.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the West Indies vs South Africa Test series June 2021?
South Africa won the June 2021 West Indies Test series 2-0 (both Tests at Daren Sammy, St Lucia: 1st Test SA won innings and 63 runs; 2nd Test SA won 158 runs). Quinton de Kock (237 runs: 141* + 96) won Player of the Series. Kagiso Rabada took a five-wicket haul in the 1st Test. It was SA's first away Test series win since 2017. Dean Elgar captained SA; Kraigg Brathwaite captained West Indies.