In a rain-curtailed game at Brian Lara Stadium, Trinidad, West Indies beat South Africa by eight wickets (DLS method) to complete 3-0 cleansweep. The finalists of T20 World Cup 2024 who lacked experience in their bowling lineup suffered a comprehensive defeat.
Stubbs’ fiery cameo after openers’ slow start
In the absence of Rovman Powell, Roston Chase led West Indies and chose to bowl first. After just seven runs from three overs, Ryan Rickelton hit the first four and the six in the fourth over. Reeza Hendricks hit a six in the next over before rain played spoilsport. After a long delay, it was reduced to a 13 overs per side game.
Hendricks could not score a run after the break and lost his wicket to Akeal Hosein. He scored just nine runs from 20 balls. Rickelton's catch was dropped in the sixth over. In the ninth over, another catch was dropped. Rickelton and skipper Aiden Markram but weren't able to accelerate properly. Markram lost his wicket to Romario Shepherd in the 10th over for a 12-ball 20. In the same over, Rickelton departed for a 24-ball 27. Tristan Stubbs went haywire in the slog overs. He hit five fours and three sixes in his 15-ball 40 before losing his wicket to Forde in the final over. South Africa posted 108/4 in 13 overs.
Easy run chase for West Indies
West Indies got a revised target of 116. In the first over, Alick Athanaze lost his wicket to Bjorn Fortuin. Nicholas Pooran walked out to bat and hit a six first ball. He hit Lizaad Williams for a couple of sixes in next over. Shai Hope joined the party and hit Kwena Maphaka for three sixes. Pooran hit a six and two fours before his cameo was ended by Ottneil Baartman in the fourth over. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 35 runs from 13 balls.
After four relatively quiet overs, Shimrton Hetmyer hit Baartman for three fours in the 18-run over. On the second ball of 10th over, Hope hit Patrick Kruger for a six to finish the run chase in style. Hope's unbeaten 24-ball 42 was studded with one four and four sixes. Hetmyer hit four fours and a six in his 17-ball 31.
Markram sees learnings from defeats
Markram felt that conditions changed due to rain. He chose to look at positives despite the series defeat.
“Tough one today. The rain didn't help. The conditions did change. Lot of learnings for us. We will know the value of experience. Conditions wise, we have played here. We could see the bigger picture. Lot of buzz around Maphaka. He likes to compete,” he said in the post-match presentation.
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