West Indies Dominate South Africa in T20 Series Opener: Pooran and Forde Shine
West Indies defeated South Africa by seven wickets in an exciting first Twenty20 International at the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba, setting a record for the most successful chase at the ground.
The hosts took a significant lead in the three-match series with the win. In the powerplay, Athanaze and Hope hammered 75 to negate Stubbs’ valiant 76.
Key Performances and Match Results
South Africa 174 for 3 (Stubbs 76, Kruger 44, Forde 3-27, Shamar 2-40) lost to West Indies 176 for 3 (Pooran 65*, Hope 51, Athanaze 40, Baartman 2-30) by 7 wickets.
Match Analysis
Just before a strong downpour caused the game to be delayed by an hour, West Indies elected to bowl first, and after eight overs, they had South Africa at 42 for 5, they were in command. They rallied when Patrick Kruger and Tristan Stubbs put on a sixth-wicket stand of 71 runs off 50 balls, and Stubbs and Bjorn Fortuin added a much-needed impetus to the batting with a seventh-wicket stand of 60 off 25 balls. In his third Twenty20 International, Matthew Forde equaled his best-ever career stats of 3 for 27.
West Indies, in turn, constantly maintained the initiative in the chase. Before Hope and Nicholas Pooran’s 54-run partnership, off 33 balls, broke the back of the target, Shai Hope and Alick Athanaze put on 84 in 49 balls for the first stand. Against a young South African assault, Pooran was especially harsh, scoring his fastest T20I fifty (from 20 balls) and finishing undefeated on 65 off 26.
South Africa’s depth was put to the test without the focal point of their assault, particularly since Lungi Ngidi was declared out of the series due to a calf strain prior to kickoff.
Kwena Maphaka, who was 18 years and 137 days old when he made their debut, was their youngest player ever. He got his maiden international wicket when he caught West Indian skipper Rovman Powell at extra cover. By that point, Roston Chase’s four off the following ball put the finishing touches on a victory that required just three runs for West Indies. With 13 balls remaining, West Indies prevailed in the game.
After an outstanding first over of three runs from Akeal Hosein, Powell’s decision to bowl first paid off almost immediately as Forde made the initial cut: Ryan Rickelton reached to cut a short, wide ball and toe-ended to Pooran. After countering with a powerful reverse sweep to remove Hosein, Aiden Markram hit Forde squarely to Gudakesh Motie at mid-on. After two deliveries, Reeza Hendricks put a leading edge on Shamar Joseph’s opening delivery, which swung to Hosein at deep third and ended the South African opener’s wretched run.
Only two of Hendricks’ previous 11 T20I innings have seen him reach 20 or more. Despite their powerplay, South Africa faltered and finished at 33 for 3. As soon as the fielding limits were restored, Joseph scored his second goal and Rassie van der Dussen was strangled down leg.
After eight overs, South Africa was struggling at 42 for 5, with all of their recognized batsmen—aside from Stubbs—back in the dugout. Stubbs scored just 13 runs off his first 16 balls, acting erratically at beginning. The biggest six of the innings was achieved when he sent Motie over long-on, although Stubbs didn’t take charge until after Kruger’s innings was completed.
He took full deliveries from Forde for two consecutive fours each side of the wicket. He then blasted Joseph over cover point to achieve fifty off 33 balls. On the penultimate ball of the innings, he holed out to long-on after having scored 23 runs off the last six balls he faced and was on his way to scoring six more. However, he had given his bowlers enough to defend with 174 on the board.
When the West Indies finally got their first boundary, it took ten deliveries, but once they did, everything opened up. In his second Twenty20 international, Athanaze opened the batting and swept Fortuin over long leg. Hope then fell victim to Ottneil Baartman’s long-off and deep-backward square leg, but the real damage was done in the fifth over.
With two sixes over deep square leg and a stunning late cut that went for four, Athanaze hammered Nandre Burger for twenty runs, forcing South Africa to switch to a fifth bowler during the powerplay. Markram was much more costly because he bowled himself out after his maiden over ended at 21. With two of those runs coming from a down-on-one-knee six over long-on and long-off, Hope contributed 16 of the 75 runs that West Indies scored in only three balls.
When Burger returned in the twelfth over, Pooran sensed an opportunity to put an immediate stop to the situation, with 70 runs off 54 balls needed to win. Burger attempted a slower ball to Pooran after Hope got off to a good start. Pooran had plenty of time to hit the ball straight over long-off for a 77-meter six.
Burger’s subsequent delivery was likewise pace-off; it turned out to be a full toss, which Pooran assisted in getting beyond midwicket and into the stands. Pooran saw the following two balls coming because they were fuller and faster. To reduce the equation to 45 off 48 balls, he struck Burger for two more sixes that went straight down the ground. Despite losing a few wickets, West Indies eventually reached the goal with ease.
