South Africa burst Windies bubble
Published:Monday | June 28, 2021 | 12:10 AMLennox Aldred/Gleaner Writer -
South Africa quickly shook off their opening defeat on Saturday to get the better of the West Indies by 16 runs in their second Twenty20 International in Grenada yesterday.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said the team had some serious conversations after the first-match defeat, and his troops responded admirably, restricting the home side to 150 for nine after they had put up 166 for seven on the board.
Left-arm spinner George Linde and left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi conceded just 35 runs in the eight overs they shared while picking up three vital wickets in the West Indies run chase.
That run chase began brightly once again as Evin Lewis and Andre Fletcher raced to 31 in just three overs before Lewis played around one from Anrich Nortje for 21.
Chris Gayle looked out of touch despite hitting a boundary in his eight runs, but when he became the first of three wickets for Kagiso Rabada at 40 for two in the fifth over, things slowly began to turn in favour of the visitors.
With the bulk of the West Indies firepower in the middle order, with Nicholas Pooran, captain Kieron Pollard, and Andre Russell, it was going to be a battle between brawn and guile, which the visiting spinners won.
Linde outfoxed Pooran and had him caught for 11 while Russell also succumbed to the left-arm spinner for five.
Shamsi came into the fray with the big wicket of Pollard for one, from a catch by Reeza Hendricks in the deep.
With the score on 70 for five, it was always going to be an uphill task. That task was made even more daunting when the innings’ top-scorer, Andre Fletcher, fell for 35 in the 16th over with the score 104 for six.
Jamaican Fabian Allen came in towards the back end and clobbered five big sixes to get to 34, but his heroics were a little too late as the innings came to a halt at 150 for nine.
Earlier, the South Africans were looking to put up a formidable total after yet another firecracker of a start.
Openers Hendricks and Quinton de Kock blazed their way to 73 in the first seven overs before rookie off-spinner Kevin Sinclair sent de Kock back for 26.
Bavuma came in and continued the positive scoring with Hendricks, however, the latter would hand Sinclair his second wicket when he was adjudged lbw for 42 with the score 96 for two in the 11th over.
Left-arm seamer Obed McCoy then came into the fray, and his accurate deceptive bowling pegged back the visitors, who managed to score just 70 runs in the last overs.
McCoy finished with three for 25 from four overs while Sinclair bagged two for 23 as Bavuma top-scored with 46 from 33 balls.
Pollard was adamant that his team conceded the game in the crucial middle period of the team’s run chase.
“I thought within the middle overs, seven to 12, is where we sort of lost it a bit by losing three wickets,” he said. “There is no secret about it. We are aggressive players by nature, but at times, we need to temper our aggression to play that role for the team.”
The next match in the five-game series takes place at the same venue on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Jamaica time.
SCOREBOARD
SOUTH AFRICA
R Hendricks lbw b Sinclair 42
+Q de Kock c wkp Pooran b Sinclair 26
*T Bavuma b Holder 46
D Miller c Fletcher b McCoy 11
R van der Dussen b Russell 2
H Klaasen c Lewis b McCoy 10
G Linde lbw b McCoy 3
K Rabada not out 7
A Nortje not out 0
Extras (b4, lb6, w9) 19
TOTAL (7 wkts, 20 overs) 166
Did not bat: T Shamsi, L Ngidi
Fall of wickets: 1-73 (de Kock, 6.5 overs), 2-96 (Hendricks, 10.2), 3-122 (Miller, 13.1), 4-139 (der Dussen, 15.2), 5-149 (Bavuma, 16.5), 6-152 (Linde, 17.2), 7-165 (Klaasen, 19.3)
Bowling: Sinclair 4-0-23-2, Allen 4-0-35-0, Holder 3-0-26-1, Russell 2-0-18-1, McCoy 4-0-25-3 (w2), Bravo 3-0-29-0 (w3)
WEST INDIES
E Lewis b Nortje 21
A Fletcher c Klaasen b Rabada 35
C Gayle c Linde b Rabada 8
+N Pooran c Miller b Linde 9
*K Pollard c Hendricks b Shamsi 1
A Russell c Klaasen b Linde 5
J Holder run out 20
F Allen lbw b Ngidi 34
D Bravo c Hendricks b Rabada 10
O McCoy not out 1
K Sinclair not out 1
Extras (lb2, w3, nb1) 6
TOTAL (9 wkts, 20 overs) 150
Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Lewis, 3.2 overs), 2-40 (Gayle, 4.3), 3-62 (Pooran, 8.4), 4-65 (Pollard, 9.5), 5-70 (Russell, 10.3), 6-104 (Fletcher, 16), 7-105 (Holder, 16.2), 8-129 (Dwayne Bravo, 18), 9-150 (Allen, 19.5)
Bowling: Linde 4-0-19-2, Ngidi 4-0-49-1, Rabada 4-0-37-3, Nortje 4-0-27-1, Shamsi 4-0-16-1.
Result: South Africa won by 16 runs.
Series: Five-match series tied 1-1.
Man-of-the-Match: George Linde.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: G Brathwaite, N Duguid; TV – J Wilson.