South Africa overpower West Indies in T20 series decider

South Africa have beaten the reigning world champions West Indies in a 5-match T20 series at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada. Facing a star-studded West Indies line-up that included Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo playing together for the first time in 6 years, the Proteas have managed to defy the odds to register their first T20I series victory since March 2019.

In the series decider, South Africa posted the highest total of the series (168-4) thanks to twin half-centuries from Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram.

The Proteas lost their captain Temba Bavuma for nought inside the first over, but Aiden Markram staked his claim to be Quinton de Kock’s opening partner and shared a wonderful 128-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. The pair put on 49 runs in the powerplay and continued to accelerate through the middle overs as De Kock reached his 3rd half-century of the series. Despite their fast start, the Proteas struggled following De Kock’s dismissal and only managed 32 runs in the final five overs as the pitch slowed down.

Just like South Africa, the West Indies got off to a brisk start with the new ball thanks to an excellent half-century from Evin Lewis. The left-hander helped West Indies score 50 runs in the powerplay and took the attack to the pacers. However, the West Indies have struggled to keep up the scoring rate in the middle overs throughout the series and that trend continued in the decider.

Tabraiz Shamsi dismissed the Universe Boss Chris Gayle in his second over and bowled an incredibly economical spell of 1-11 in his four overs. Lewis was removed soon after by Lungi Ngidi and the defining moment in the match and the series came in the 15^th over when Wiaan Mulder dismissed the dangerous Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell off consecutive deliveries to put the game to bed.

The player of the series award was undoubtedly given to Tabraiz Shamsi, who spun a web around the West Indies batters throughout the series. The left-armer picked up seven wickets but more impressively had an economy rate of only 4 runs an over across the five matches.

Both sides will take plenty of learnings from this T20 series ahead of the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman in two months’ time. This victory will serve as the perfect reminder for the Proteas that they can still compete with the best nations in the world and they will be buoyed by the performances of Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram and Tabraiz Shamsi.