West Indies blitz South Africa, sweep T20 series

IN A rain-affected affair which was reduced to 13 overs per side, West Indies romped to an eight-wicket victory via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) Method in the third and final T20 versus South Africa at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba on August 27 to claim a 3-0 series sweep.

It's the regional team's second 3-0 T20 sweep over South Africa in three months, as they also achieved the feat in May in the build-up to the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup.

South Africa then dealt a knockout blow to the Windies in their Super Eight encounter at the T20 World Cup, but the hosts rebounded in fine style in Tarouba to claim the scalp of the World Cup finalists and they put an exclamation point on the series by taking the last game with 22 balls to spare.

Set 116 for victory after South Africa's total of 108 for four was adjusted via DLS, the West Indies batsmen launched an attack – with Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran starting the innings in ominous form.

Hope ushered the Windies home with an unbeaten 42 off 24 balls, with Pooran clouting 35 off just 13 balls.

After Alick Athanaze (one) was dismissed in the first over, Pooran immediately signaled his intentions when he struck Bjorn Fortuin for a mighty six off the first ball he faced.

Pooran then struck seamer Lizaad Williams for two gigantic sixes over the on-side in the second over, with Hope joining the party with three sixes of his own off teenager Kwena Maphaka in the third over.

Pooran and Hope's rapid 58-run partnership was ended in the fourth over when the former attempted to hit Ottniel Baartman for a fourth straight boundary.

New batsman Shimron Hetmyer (31 not out off 17 balls) had a shaky start to his innings, but he and Hope took the Windies over the line without any further damage with an unbeaten 56-run stand.

Skipper Rovman Powell was among the three players rested by the West Indies for the final T20, with Roston Chase deputising in his absence.

Approximately two hours were lost in the match due to rain before the game and at the start of the South African innings, with play being halted for an hour as the Proteas crawled to 23 without loss after 4.3 overs.

Upon the resumption, a swashbuckling Tristan Stubbs (40 off 15 balls) galvanised a stuttering South Africa innings with a brute display of hitting which contained five fours and three sixes.

Ryan Rickelton chipped in with 27 off 24 balls, and he rode his luck after being put down by Akeal Hosein and Obed McCoy.

Rickelton couldn't make his chances count, though, and Matthew Forde made no mistake when he took a smart running catch at long-on, giving Romario Shepherd his second wicket of the tenth over.

Shepherd copped the Man of the Match award in the second match when he picked up figures of three for 15, and he was on the money in the final T20 too as he grabbed two for 14 and also accounted for South Africa skipper Aiden Markram (20 off 12 balls). Shepherd was rewarded for his efforts once more, as he seized the Man of the Match award for a second straight game.

Hope was adjudged the Player of the Series after scoring 134 runs in three matches at an average of 67.

Summarised scores:

SOUTH AFRICA: 108/4 from 13 overs (Tristan Stubbs 40, Ryan Rickelton 27; Romario Shepherd 2/14) vs WEST INDIES: 116/2 from 9.2 overs (Shai Hope 42 not out, Nicholas Pooran 35; Bjorn Fortuin 1/8). West Indies won by eight wickets via DLS Method.