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- Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada said they're still a growing side despite their first Test success against the West Indies.
- South Africa won the first Test in St Lucia by an innings and 63 runs after bowling out the West Indies for 162.
- Rabada added that Lungi Ngidi, who took a first-innings five-wicket haul, has been putting in the hard yards.
Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada said they're still growing as a team despite their convincing innings and 63-run win over the West Indies in the first Test at St Lucia.
Rabada's 5/34 in 20 overs in the second innings played a huge role in the game getting wrapped up in an extended third morning where the West Indies were bowled out for 162 after starting the day on 82/4.
Rabada, who removed openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieron Powell, came back to collect the scalps of Jermaine Blackwood, Rahkeem Cornwall and Joshua Da Silva to get his 10th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
Rabada though said they needed to maintain their performance for the second Test that starts on Friday at the same ground.
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"We're a young team and we're still rebuilding. Even our most experienced players are young," Rabada said.
"Quinton de Kock and I are probably the most experienced players after Dean Elgar and there's also Temba Bavuma.
"For me at 26 to be one of the most experienced players in the team paints a picture of how young we are as a team.
"That'll give us massive confidence, not only moving into the next Test, but the next years. We can't take anything for granted and we need to stick to our processes for the next game."
The Proteas didn't have a proper warm-up game leading into the series, but had a preparation camp and an internal training game.
Rabada said they put in a lot of work in the build-up that paid off in the Test match.
"We were consistent in our preparations and established the kind of cricket that we wanted to play," Rabada said.
"We set a few standards that we want to uphold and we stuck to that. If we continue to do so, I think luck will be on our side.
"If you look at some of the games we played in, we were lacking at crucial times and we let the game slip away from us. We've been good in patches, but at times, we've been quite sloppy.
"In this Test, we kept our foot on the throttle and we've identified the moments where we slacked off in previous games. It's not going to get any easier now."
Lungi Ngidi, who dismembered the West Indies' lower middle-order in the first innings, took South Africa's other five-fer.
The West Indies were bowled out for 97 in the first dig and were unable to fully recover.
There also was Anrich Nortje's pace that brought important breakthroughs that allowed the other bowlers to prosper.
Rabada said Ngidi's effort was a product of the massive behind-the-scenes work he has been putting in.
"Lungs has bowled extremely well and right from the training camp we had in Pretoria, he had the ball on a string," Rabada said.
"He seemed extremely determined and he repeated the same intensity and we hope that'll happen for the next years to come.
"He bowled magnificently and deserved all the credit that came his way. He bowled well in the second innings and didn't pick up a wicket.
"Cricket can be unforgiving like that, but as a team we won."
