West Indies. (Photo by WIKUS DE WET/AFP via Getty Images)
After a terrible outing at last year’s T20 World Cup, Cricket West Indies (CWI) made some significant changes to the T20I squad, including changing the skipper and the coaching staff. In their first T20I series since then, a new-look Caribbean side took the world by storm, playing some sensational attacking brand of cricket, which helped them seal the T20I series against South Africa away from home.
Notably, in the third match of the series, the home side asked West Indies to bat first and they put up a massive total in return. Brandon King once again gave the team a decent start, while Nicholas Pooran (41 runs off 19 deliveries) and Romario Shephard (44 runs off 22 deliveries) wreaked havoc, helping the team post 220 runs on board after 20 overs. Interestingly, none of the players managed to register a half-century but yet so, the team posted a massive target against the Aiden Markram-led Proteas.
Coming to the chase, the Proteas were brilliant as well. Opening the batting, Reeza Hendricks smashed 83 off 44 deliveries while Rilee Rossouw hit 42 off 21 deliveries. Their partnership of 80 runs almost took the game away from the Rovman Powell-led side but that’s when Alzarri Joseph stepped in and changed the complexion of the game.
The speedster was West Indies’ wrecker-in-chief, picking up five crucial wickets of Quinton de Kock (21), Reeza Hendricks, David Miller (11), Heinrich Klaasen (6) and Wayne Parnell (2). Thus, the 26-year-old dismantled South Africa’s batting unit, helping his team win the match by seven runs.
Meanwhile, newly-appointed Proteas skipper Aiden Markram tried his best, scoring 35* runs off just 18 deliveries but unfortunately, he got very little support from his teammates. However, following a brilliant all-round performance, West Indies managed to register a massive win in the third T20I and eventually won the series 2-1. This win will also give them a lot of confidence as this is their first T20I series win in eight long months.
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