The Proteas captain Temba Bavuma and opening batter Tony de Zorzi set the tone for South Africa on day two of the first Test against the West Indies being played in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.

At the close of play on day two at the Queens' Park Over, the Proteas were on 344/8 with Bavuma top-scoring with a sublime and patient 86 runs. De Zorzi in turn scored 78 runs after scoring 32 on day one of the Test before rain brought an early close to play.

Tony de Zorzi - Cricinfo

At the backend of the South African innings the wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne scored 39 runs, while the allrounder Wiaan Mulder was unbeaten on 37.

Jomel Warrican who took the wickets of De Zorzi and Verreynne was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with 3/66 from his 20 overs. Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales each bagged two scalps.

Following the day's play, De Zorzi, said it wasn’t all that easy to score runs, while for the bowlers it was also a game of patience.

“I thought it was alright, I would have liked to kick on a bit,” said De Zorzi.

“Temba and I had a night partnership after Tristan Stubbs went out. It was important for us to consolidate, so I'm happy with my contribution to the team.

“It’s not an easy wicket to get wickets, but I think that it’s probably a game of patience that goes both ways. It's not easy to get your flow as a batter.

“It’s probably a little bit easier to get runs when the ball is new, but that’s probably also when the bowlers have their best chance– so it's a good match-up. Then as the ball gets softer, the scoring gets a little bit slower and you can see that in the sessions run-rates. Then it becomes a game of patience between bat and ball.”

Play is set to resume at 15:30 on Friday.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek dg