West Indies ended their three-match T20I series against South Africa on a winning note. They claimed an exciting six-run victory via the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method in South Africa recently.
The match was reduced to 16 overs, then to 10, due to lightning strikes. The West Indies’ top order came out with momentum, posting 114 for 3 after being sent in to bat for the third successive time in the series.
South Africa failed to perform despite staging a late fightback. They eventually fell short of their revised total of 125, finishing on 118 for 6.
The match was delayed by 75 minutes after lightning strikes were spotted, and it was reduced to 16 overs.
West Indies suffered an early setback. They lost Johnson Charles for a duck with just five runs on the board. Captain Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer then carried them to 66 for 1 after six overs. Lightning strikes forced the players off the field soon after.
With only four more overs available, the Windies started slowly after the restart, scoring just six runs from the seventh over.
Hetmyer and Hope then combined to hit Keshav Maharaj for three sixes off the first four balls in the ensuing over. Hope was then caught by the spinner’s next ball for 48 off 25 balls.
Rovman Powell smashed Kwena Maphaka for two sixes in the penultimate over before falling for 13 off 7 balls, and Hetmyer ended the innings by hitting Bosch’s last ball for six.
He ended unbeaten on 48 off 22 balls, inclusive of six sixes and one four.
With a revised target of 125 by the DLS, South Africa had a good start, reaching 19 runs off Jason Holder’s opening over of the innings.
Akeal Hosein then dismissed skipper Aiden Markram, caught and bowled for two. Gudakesh Motie took the wickets of Quinton de Kock (28), Ryan Rickelton (15), and Dewald Brevis (17). South Africa slumped to 63 for four after six overs.
With the required run rate over 15, George Linde and Jason Smith smashed 14 runs from Joseph’s next over. They then hammered 21 runs from the eighth over, bowled by Hosein. Now, they needed 27 from 12 balls.
Holder then dismissed Linde in the penultimate over that went for 11 runs, with South Africa needing 16 runs from the last over.
Joseph conceded a boundary with his third delivery but bowled Smith in the next ball. He ended the over by conceding just two more runs.
Player-of-the-Match Motie ended with 3-17 from his two overs.
