Tag: West Indies vs South Africa

TAROUBA: West Indies cruised to an eight-wicket victory over South Africa in a rain-disrupted match to complete a 3-0 T20I series sweep on Tuesday.

West Indies opener Shai Hope blasted an unbeaten 42 off 24 balls while Nicholas Pooran clubbed 35 off just 13 deliveries to lay the foundation for the hosts’ victory at the Brian Lara Stadium.

After South Africa scored 108-4 off 13 overs, West Indies were left with a victory target of 116 under the Duckworth Lewis method.

The Caribbean side reached that total at a canter, finishing on 116-2 with 22 balls remaining.

A whopping 82 runs from the West Indies total came from boundaries, with nine sixes and seven fours.

Romario Shepherd was the man-of-the-match for West Indies after a tidy bowling spell that saw him finish with figures of 2-14 off two overs as South Africa’s innings stalled.

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The victory was sweet for a West Indies squad who were eliminated from the T20 World Cup by the South Africans in June.

“To come and clean sweep the team which knocked us out of the World Cup was great,” Shepherd said.

West Indies skipper Roston Chase added: “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.”

South Africa captain Aiden Markram, who chipped in with 20 off 12 balls in the Proteas’ total, 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.”

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KINGSTON: Roston Chase played a blistering 67-run knock from 38 balls, helping West Indies defeat South Africa by 16 runs at Sabina Park on Sunday.

West Indies achieved an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.

Before Chase, West Indies captain Brandon King (36) and Kyle Mayers (32) powered the home team to 51-1 in the first six overs.

Chase came down to bat in the next over, after King fell with 54 runs on the board, and took South African bowlers apart with his aggressive batting.

He constructed a 56-run stand in 36 balls with Andre Fletcher (29) before Andile Phehlukwayo broke the partnership in the 15th over.

Romario Shepherd (26) joined Chase with 139 runs on the board and together they launched an onslaught, scoring 63 runs in 25 balls for the sixth wicket.

Chase remained unbeaten at 67, hitting seven boundaries and two sixes to propel West Indies to 207/7 in their allocated 20 overs.

For South Africa, debutant Nqabayomzi Peter, Phehlukwayo and Lungi Ngidi picked two wickets each.

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South Africa made a lightning start to their chase, with openers Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock rattling up 81 in 4.5 overs before De Kock was bowled by Akeal Hosein having made 41 off just 17 balls.

De Kock top-scored for South Africa with 41 from 17 balls, featuring four fours and four sixes.

Hendricks went in the next over, bowled by the off-spin of Chase having made 34 off 18 balls with three sixes.

South Africa couldn’t build any real momentum after that as skipper Rassie van der Dussen remained the only notable contributor after the openers with 30 off 22.

The tourists’ tail was unable to keep up with the run-rate in the final overs as West Indies secured the series win, restricting South Africa to 191/7 in 20 overs.

“It’s an amazing feeling. Chase is very valuable. Very happy with his performance. They had a good start but it finished well for us. Play really good cricket – that’s what we are focussing,” said West Indies skipper.

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JOHANNESBURG: Romario Shepherd’s late batting assault and a five-wicket haul by Alzarri Joseph took the West Indies to a series-clinching seven-run win against South Africa in the third Twenty20 international at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Shepherd slammed 44 not out off 22 balls to lift the West Indies from 161 for eight to 220 for eight, sharing an unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 59 off 26 balls with Joseph, who made 14 not out.

Fast bowler Joseph then took five for 40 as South Africa were restricted to 213 for six.

New West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell said the players had responded to his call “to be fearless, to be natural – but you have to be smart too. The guys were excellent in this series.”

Joseph, who missed the second match in Centurion when South Africa achieved a world record run chase of 259, struck crucial blows when he took the wickets of T20 stars Quinton de Kock (21) and David Miller (11).

Joseph effectively wrapped up the match in the penultimate over when he dismissed top-scorer Reeza Hendricks for 83 and followed up with the wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and Wayne Parnell.

“We made a total and it was up to the bowlers to defend it,” said Joseph, who was named player of the match.

“I thrive on the opportunity to make an impact.”

The last two overs of the West Indian innings were match-changing as Shepherd and Joseph scored 17 off Wayne Parnell and 26 in the final over bowled by Kagiso Rabada.

“We would have liked to wrap up the last two wickets but bar the last two or three overs we were really good with the ball,” said South Africa captain Aiden Markram.

READ: Shepherd, Joseph take West Indies to South Africa series win

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s bowlers ripped through the West Indies batting as the hosts completed a 284-run win on the fourth day of the second Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The West Indies were bowled out for 106 after being set to make 391 to win.

South Africa won the two-match World Test Championship series 2-0.

The match was effectively won and lost in 8.1 overs leading up to lunch when the West Indies crashed to 34 for six.

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada struck twice in three balls and sparked the collapse after opening batsmen Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul survived the first 10 overs, putting on 21 runs.

Rabada dismissed Brathwaite for the seventh time in successive innings when he trapped the West Indian captain leg before wicket for 18 with a ball which kept low.

Two balls later Raymon Reifer gloved a catch down the leg side to wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen.

Spinners Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj also took two wickets each as the West Indies lost six wickets for 13 runs.

Off-spinner Harmer shared the new ball with Rabada and extracted extravagant turn, having Chanderpaul caught at second slip after the left-hander had faced 36 balls and scored only two runs.

Roston Chase, Jermaine Blackwood and Kyle Mayers all fell cheaply with South Africa’s only setback coming after Maharaj won a successful appeal for leg before wicket against Mayers in the last over before lunch.

In celebrating, the left-arm spinner collapsed and was stretchered off the field with a left ankle tendon injury.

Maharaj was taken for a scan. With all-rounder Wiaan Mulder suffering a right index finger injury, which also required a scan, South Africa were effectively down to three frontline bowlers. The West Indies batting, though, had already been wrecked.

Mulder returned after lunch but was not required to bowl.

Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph all played some aggressive strokes after lunch as the last four wickets yielded 72 runs before the match ended soon after the afternoon drinks break.

There had been concerns about Rabada’s fitness after he suffered back pain during the first innings but he showed no signs of discomfort during a hostile seven-over spell.

South Africa were bowled out for 321 earlier, with captain Temba Bavuma adding only one run to his overnight 171 before he was caught at deep square leg off Holder.

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JOHANNESBURG: Temba Bavuma said he tried to “stay in the moment” as he approached a long-awaited second Test century. But he admitted that he could not entirely quell his emotions.

The South African captain’s 171 not out put his team in a strong position on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Friday.

A second innings total of 287 for seven gave them an overall lead of 356.

West Indian captain Kraigg Brathwaite said he still had hopes of a West Indian win. “The pitch is still a good one,” he said.

Bavuma had to wait more than seven years to reach three figures for the second time.

“I tried to stay in the moment as much as I could,” he said. “But when I got to 96 or so the crowd’s energy started picking up in anticipation. My emotions also started picking up.”

He scored three singles to get to 99. Then came a delivery from Alzarri Joseph.

“I got a ball outside my stumps and went for it.”

The shot flew off the middle of his bat over cover and raced to the boundary.

A small crowd rose to give him a standing ovation.

After reaching three figures off 192 balls, Bavuma went on to 171 off another 83 deliveries. He hit 20 fours.

“It has been a long journey,” Bavuma told journalists. “There have been a lot more downs than ups. I keep learning about myself and try to take everything in my stride, to keep my chin up and stay true to myself.

“I’ve got a lot better understanding of myself and the pressures and challenges that come with international cricket.”

Bavuma, 32, made his first hundred in his seventh Test and his eighth innings in a high-scoring draw against England at Newlands in Cape Town in January 2016.

He played in another 48 Tests and batted in 88 more innings without repeating the feat despite hitting 19 half-centuries.

South Africa’s most reliable batsman over the past two years, Bavuma was appointed captain before the first Test against the West Indies – and was out for a ‘pair’.

He came in on Friday with his team in trouble at eight for two. He accumulated a 107-ball half-century while partners struggled and succumbed against good West Indian bowling.

Bavuma said the situation helped him take his mind off personal milestones.

“I have become accustomed to situations where I have to absorb the pressure, although I haven’t made the big scores. A hundred wasn’t the target. It came along the way. It helped a lot coming in in that position.”

South Africa were 103 for five, a precarious 172 runs ahead, when Bavuma was joined by Wiaan Mulder, one of several  batsmen yet to prove themselves at top level.

Mulder made 42 in a 103-run partnership which accelerated after Bavuma reached his century. Twenty-one overs between tea and the second new ball yielded 98 runs for the loss of Mulder’s wicket.

Simon Harmer made 19 while Bavuma scored freely as the pair added 71 for the seventh wicket.

Brathwaite praised Bavuma: “He played a very good innings. I can’t fault the bowlers’ effort.”

With the pitch not posing any undue problems, South Africa were seeking a big lead, especially as there was concern about the fitness of Kagiso Rabada, one of only two fast bowlers picked by the hosts.

Rabada took two for 19 in 12 overs in the first innings, but did not bowl after tea on the second afternoon and was reportedly suffering from a sore back and perhaps a groin strain.

Bavuma did not provide any details but admitted that Rabada was in the hands of South Africa’s medical team.

“They say they’ll get him out on the field,” he said.

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JOHANNESBURG: Former captain Jason Holder lifted a struggling West Indies and frustrated South Africa with an innings of 81 not out on the second day of the second Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Thanks largely to Holder, the West Indies scored 251 in their first innings. They trailed by 69 runs but it looked likely to be much worse before Holder played a sparkling innings.

“The important thing for us was to stay in the game,” Holder said after inspiring a rearguard action in which the last four wickets added 135 runs.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” he told SuperSport television. “You’ve got to put trust in your partners and give them responsibility.”

South Africa faced three overs at the end of the day, scoring four runs without loss to take their overall lead to 73 runs.

Whereas none of his teammates could score freely — and none managed more than Kyle Mayers’ battling 29 off 83 balls — the tall Holder looked in command from the start of his innings.

Batting at number eight, he went in with the West Indies in big trouble at 116 for six in reply to South Africa’s 320 all out.

Holder and Joshua Da Silva (26) started the recovery by putting on 41 for the seventh wicket.

The comeback accelerated as the last two batsmen, Kemar Roach (13) and Gudakesh Motie (17) helped Holder add 89 runs for the last two wickets.

The 10th-wicket partnership of 58 with Motie was the highest of the innings.

Holder admitted he would like to bat higher in the order. “I’ve had an indifferent time of late,” he said, “but I would like to bat at number six.”

Holder hit four sixes and eight fours in a 117-ball innings and said the Wanderers pitch was “pretty good for batters”.

Gerald Coetzee, playing in his second Test, took three for 41 and fellow fast bowler Kagiso Rabada took two for 19. Rabada only sent down 12 overs and did not bowl after tea.

On a pitch expected to take spin later in the match, spinners Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj bowled a combined 38.3 overs but could only take three wickets while conceding 140 runs.

Coetzee, 22, said he had set out to “hit the pitch” and bowl fast in the absence of the injured Anrich Nortje. “If you look at the bowling attack today I think that was my role. I enjoy hitting the pitch.”

Coetzee said his impressive start in Test cricket had been eased by being part of the South African Test squad in Australia earlier in the season, even though he did not play a match.

“I went there as a back-up bowler but to be there and learn was exactly what I needed.”

Coetzee said the Wanderers pitch provided a more even contest between bat and ball than the first Test in Centurion, “but there is something for the bowlers”.

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JOHANNESBURG: Aiden Markram helped South Africa race to a strong start before the West Indies fought back on the first day of the second Test in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie picked up three wickets as South Africa closed on 311 for seven, having slipped from their formidable teatime position of 247 for two.

Aiden Markram (96) and Tony de Zorzi (85) were mainly responsible for South Africa’s healthy position before the hosts struggled after the second interval.

“It’s not just the four runs (for the century),” Markram said. “On that pitch I should have been looking at a really big score, 160 or 170.”

Markram, who made 115 in South Africa’s 87-run win in the first Test in Centurion, was in imperious form, hitting 17 fours off 139 balls.

He described his dismissal, trying to play an uncharacteristic scoop shot against Motie, as “a brain fade”.

Markram and De Zorzi, playing in his second Test, put on 116 off 164 balls.

De Zorzi was later bowled by Motie during a South African post-tea collapse in which five wickets fell for 62 runs.

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders,” Markram said of his inexperienced teammate. “You need guys at number three who can apply themselves.”

The left-handed De Zorzi, 25, said he had tried to play as normally as possible rather than thinking about the leap from first-class to Test cricket.

“You have to do what got you here,” he said.

Jason Holder bowled a tight spell after tea and claimed the wicket of South African captain Temba Bavuma, who played no shot and was leg before wicket for 28 to a ball which cut back sharply.

De Zorzi batted fluently to be on 75 off 124 deliveries at tea but could add only another 10 runs off 31 balls before he was bowled by Motie.

He was drawn forward and beaten by a flighted delivery which spun back and hit the top of his off stump.

Motie finished the day with three for 75.

Ryan Rickelton was caught behind for 22 off Alzarri Joseph and Kyle Mayers claimed two wickets with the second new ball late in the day, bowling Wiaan Mulder and having Simon Harmer caught behind.

“The pitch quickened up later in the day and we created more chances,” said Mayers.

“It’s an open game. The late strikes brought us back into the game.”

Motie earlier had Dean Elgar caught at short fine leg for 42 off a ball which was outside the left-hander’s leg stump before removing Markram.

The ball looped off his bat and Jermaine Blackwood ran around from slip to leg slip to hold the catch.

Elgar and Markram put on 76 for the first wicket after Bavuma won the toss and chose to bat on an unusually docile Wanderers pitch.

At a venue with a tradition for pace and bounce, a dry surface gave some assistance to the spin bowlers on the first day, seemingly justifying South Africa’s decision to choose two spinners.

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CENTURION: Kagiso Rabada picked up six for 50 to bowl South Africa to an 87-run victory over West Indies in the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.

After bowling out the hosts for 116 in the morning, West Indies needed 247 to win but were dismissed for just 159.

The only resistance of note came from Jermaine Blackwood who made a gutsy 79 before being ninth man out.

The match hurtled to a conclusion with more than two days to spare as the fast bowlers of both teams held sway on a pitch of variable bounce.

West Indies’ Kemar Roach dominated the morning as he took five for 47 as South Africa, resuming on 49 for four, lost their last six wickets for 67 runs.

Wickets continued to fall when the West Indies batted.

Kraig Brathwaite was caught down the leg side off Rabada in the only over before lunch.

Rabada had first innings top-scorer Raymon Reifer caught behind for eight soon after lunch and Marco Jansen took two wickets in his first over.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul was caught off a top-edged pull and Roston Chase was bowled first ball.

When Gerald Coetzee had Kyle Mayers caught at first slip by Dean Elgar for nought, West Indies were 33 for five with three of the top six out for ducks.

Blackwood played aggressively as he and Joshua Da Silva added 58 for the sixth wicket before Rabada had Da Silva caught at third slip by Keegan Petersen for 17 shortly before tea.

There was more resistance from Jason Holder, who scored 18 in a 37-run stand with Blackwood before Rabada struck again, having Holder caught behind.

Blackwood alone took the fight to the South Africans, hitting eight fours and a six in an aggressive half-century that came up from just 51 balls.

Playing with the tail, his scoring rate slowed as he made his way to 79 when he became a fifth victim for Rabada, fending a lifting ball to Aiden Markram at second slip.

From the final ball of the same over, Rabada trapped Kemar Roach leg before wicket to wrap up the match.

Wicketkeeper Da Silva earlier held seven catches in the South African second innings to equal the world Test record for dismissals in an innings, joining Wasim Bari of Pakistan, Bob Taylor of England, Ian Smith of New Zealand and fellow West Indian Ridley Jacobs.

South Africa’s troubles started early when Heinrich Klaasen played a loose drive against Jason Holder and was caught behind for seven in the third over of the morning.

First innings century-maker  Markram took his overnight score of 35 to 47 before he was caught behind off Roach’s first ball of the day.

South Africa slumped to 80 for eight, with the West Indies bowlers seldom giving the batsmen a chance to play an attacking shot.

New cap Gerald Coetzee made a spirited 20 off 15 balls, including a six and four off successive balls from Gabriel before Roach wrapped up the innings.

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DUBAI: Cricket South Africa (CSA) took notice of wicket-keeper batsman Quinton De Kock’s decision to withdraw from match against West Indies on Tuesday in light of their directive to ‘take a knee’ in support of Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM). 

In a statement released after the happening, CSA said they stand against racism and will take action on the matter after receiving a report from team management.

“After considering all relevant issues, including the freedom of choice of players, the Board had made it clear it was imperative for the team to be seen taking a stand against racism, especially given SA’s history. The Board’s view was that while diversity can and should find expression in many facets of daily lives, this did not apply when it came to taking a stand against racism,” the statement read.

🇿🇦 Cricket South Africa (CSA) has noted the personal decision by South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock not to “take the knee” ahead of Tuesday’s game against the West Indies.

➡️ Full statement: https://t.co/cmEiA9JZy7 pic.twitter.com/4vOqkXz0DX

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 26, 2021

“Concerns were raised that the different postures taken by team members in support of the BLM initiative created an unintended perception of disparity or lack of support for the initiative,

“After considering all relevant issues, including the position of the players, the Board felt that it was imperative for the team to be seen taking a united and consistent stand against racism, especially given SA’s history,” CSA said.

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DUBAI: Evin Lewis provided a solid start to West Indies as they kept the upper hand initially before South Africa came back and hold the opponents at 143-8 in the sixth game of the T20 World Cup 2021.

Lewis kept his nerves calm and controlled as West Indies were losing wickets after regular intervals. A 73-runs opening partnership between Lewis and Lendl Simmons provided a steady start to the defending champions.

Lewis’s share in the partnership was major and he ended up scoring 56 runs off 35 balls with the help of three boundaries and six maximums.

Keshav Maharaj bagged his wicket in the 11th over to make a way for South Africa to come back in the game. Thereafter, West Indies suffered pressure as they kept losing wickets.

Only skipper Kieron Pollard was able to make a break with his quick 26 off 20 balls including two boundaries and a six.

Dwaine Pretorius bagged quick three wickets in the end which helped South Africa restrict West Indies to 143-8.

Maharaj took two wickets while Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada shared a wicket apiece.

TOSS

South Africa won the toss and decided to field first against West Indies in the sixth match of the T20 World Cup 2021.

More to follow…