West Indies Sweep South Africa with 3-0 Victory in T20I Series with Dominant Display
West Indies established their supremacy in the format with a commanding 3-0 victory over South Africa in the Twenty20 International series.
On August 27, 2024, in Tarouba, the final match took place. Using the DLS technique, the West Indies won by eight wickets by chasing down a target of 116. Rain-affected final Twenty20 International saw South Africa’s score of 108 for 4 lack notable individual contributions.
Key Performances and Match Results
South Africa 108 for 4 (Stubbs 40, Shepherd 2-14) lost to West Indies 116 for 2 (Hope 42*, Pooran 35, Fortuin 1-8) by 8 wickets via DLS method.
The West Indies concluded their T20I series with a perfect sweep, highlighting a time of supremacy in this format versus South Africa. They have played 10 Twenty20 International cricket matches against South Africa since March 2023 and have won eight of them, including back-to-back 3-0 series wins either side of the T20 World Cup. The final victory occurred in a shortened match in Trinidad.
The series finale began an hour later than the planned 3pm start time due to a rain delay, however play continued without any overs lost. Midway through South Africa’s fifth over, there was another rain delay that caused the game to be trimmed to 13 overs a side and cost 70 more minutes.
A worry for South Africa throughout the series has been the lack of noteworthy individual contributions in their total of 108 for 4. Two West Indies spinners, Akeal Hosein and interim captain Roston Chase, who gave up 22 runs apiece in five overs, kept them quiet. With only Tristan Stubbs scoring above 30, West Indies’ goal was recalculated to 116.
When Bjorn Fortuin caught Alick Athanaze at mid-on in the opening over, the hosts were put on the back foot early on. However, the remaining batters took the game by storm. Before an undefeated 56-run stand between Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer finished the match with 22 balls remaining, West Indies were in a position to push for victory after Hope and Nicholas Pooran established a second-wicket partnership of 58 off 20 balls.
With two wickets in his opening over and South Africa’s ninth, Romario Shepherd became the T20I series’ top wicket-taker and forced the visitors to retreat in their chase of rapid runs. Aiden Markram successfully completed his first ball when he chased down a ball that was behind his length and stole it.
The T20 captain of South Africa has only reached 20 once in his 12 knocks and not above 20 in his last six completed innings in the format. With 20 balls remaining in their innings, South Africa was reduced from 61 for 1 to 66 for 3 thanks to a slower ball from Shepherd that was caught at mid-off three balls later.
Stubbs concluded the T20I series as the top run scorer and showed a degree of maturity that speaks well for his future with the South African team, following up his first Test half-century in Trinidad earlier this month. He faced West Indies veteran seamer Obed McCoy in his opening over of the series to establish himself, even as he got his eye in, with South Africa in dire need of early runs.
After facing just four deliveries, Stubbs struck his first six, a four-ball through cover, and a 101-meter six off a short ball over deep mid-wicket after pulling McCoy over backward square leg. With his final innings of 40 off 15 balls and his 16 runs off three balls, Stubbs helped drive South Africa over 100 and closer to a competitive total.
In his first IPL encounter, Kwena Maphaka was taken apart by Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, conceding 66 runs in four overs, making him the most costly debutant. Since then, the lessons have not stopped. Given the ball in the third over of the reduced chase and playing in his third international in six days, Maphaka began with a full, wide delivery outside off which he had to bowl again.
Gas on full tilt, Pooran scored one run off his next ball to put Hope on the attack and left Maphaka with no mercy. Before getting foxed by a slower ball, he sent consecutive short balls over the leg side for six. Pooran blasted Maphaka for the third six of the over, putting West Indies in control of the chase. Maphaka was unable to quickly finish the over, sending down a no-ball and another wide. The first over for Maphaka cost 22 runs.
After he settled in, Hetmyer appeared to have not lost a beat despite it being his first T20I of the season. He needed seven balls to locate his first boundary, which came off Lizaad Williams’ outside edge, but after that, runs came effortlessly.
After hitting a short ball from Maphaka over long leg for six, Hetmyer blasted Ottneil Baartman to successive fours through mid-off and backward point, capping the over with a third four over fine leg. In order to guarantee that West Indies concluded in spectacular fashion, he struck 31 runs off of 17 balls as the senior partner in a half-century partnership with Hope.
