West Indies crushed South Africa by eight wickets in the final T-20I to complete a famous clean sweep in the 3-match T20 series. Nicholas Pooran starred in the show with an explosive innings to take his side to victory in the rain-affected match.
After the rain delayed the start by an hour, the game was reduced to 13 overs per side. South Africa got off to a slow start with Reeza Hendricks departing early. Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram steadied the ship for the Proteas with Tristan Stubbs’ blistering knock of 40 in just 15 balls taking them to 108 for 4 in their 13 overs.
Romario Shephard was the pick of the bowlers for the Windies taking 2/14 in 2 overs.
Chasing a revised target of 116, West Indies got off to the worst possible strong with opening batsman Alick Athanaze departing for 1 run. Nicholas Pooran was promoted in the order and he took the Proteas bowlers to the cleaners hitting 4 sixes and 2 fours in his knock of 35 to take the game away from the visitors. Shai Hope (42*) and Shimron Hetmyer (31*) took the hosts over the line with 22 balls to spare.
Romario Shephard was awarded the man-of-the-match award for West Indies after a tidy bowling spell that saw him finish with figures of 2-14 off two overs.
“We wanted to win the series 3-0. In a shortened game we want guys to go and play their natural game. The guys came out and played brilliantly.” West Indies skipper Roston Chase said after the match.
South African captain Aiden Markram on the other hand urged his side to bounce back from this defeat and said his team had room for improvement.
“Tough one today,” Markram said. “Probably got the tougher of the conditions. That being said, we can improve as a team. It’s going to take a little bit of time; there’s a bit we can take from it but it’s never great to lose.”
Earlier, West Indies had defeated South Africa in the first T20I by 7 wickets at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy Stadium and beat them by 30 runs in the second T20I at the same venue.
This series win is their second in 2024 against South Africa having already beaten them 3-0 in May. However, the Proteas did manage to get the better of the Windies in the Super 8 of the ICC World T20.
South Africa will now travel to UAE to face Afghanistan in 3 ODI’s while West Indies will welcome England to the Caribbean to play 5 T20s and 3 ODI’s.
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Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
