Proteas bowlers save the day

The Proteas bowling attack again bailed out their batsmen as they claimed an exciting one-run win over the West Indies in the third T20 international at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s, Grenada, on Tuesday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

An impressive Quinton de Kock half-century helped the Proteas reach a middling 167 for eight batting first in their 20 overs, while man-of-the-match Tabraiz Shamsi led the bowling effort by picking up 2-13 in his four overs to help restrict the Windies to 166 for seven in response.

The final over of the match was bowled by pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, 1-41, and with 15 runs to defend he bowled all six balls at Fabian Allen who finished 14 not out off nine balls (1x4, 1x6).

With only eight runs managed off the first five balls, Rabada finally missed his line off the last ball as a full toss was clobbered for six to end proceedings.

?? RESULT | #PROTEAS WIN BY 1 RUN

Kagiso Rabada defended 15 runs in the final over to hand the #Proteas a 2-1 lead in the series, while Tabraiz Shamsi continued his great form with the ball, returning figures of 2/13 in his 4 overs.#WIvSA #ThatsOurGame pic.twitter.com/37bGW4XbFX

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) June 29, 2021

At the start of the innings, the Windies’ chase got off to a good start as openers Evin Lewis, 27 off 21 balls (2x4, 1x6), and Lendl Simmons, 22 off 22 (1x4, 1x6), took 47 runs off the first five overs.

Anrich Nortje’s sixth over put the breaks on the chase as just one run came off it, followed by both openers falling in the next two overs.

Simmons first tried to cut a ball from George Linde, 1-33, that was too close to his body and feathered an edge to De Kock behind the stumps, while Lewis swept Shamsi straight to Rassie van der Dussen at deep square-leg as they slipped to 57 for two in the eighth over.

New batsmen Jason Holder and Shimron Hetmeyr looked to relieve the pressure by upping the scoring rate as a four and a six off Linde’s ninth helped 14 runs come off it and two sixes off the 10th over bowled by Aiden Markram saw 16 scored, moving them quickly to 89 for two at the halfway mark.

Three very good overs followed from Lungi Ngidi (1-24) Shamsi and Rabada with just 17 runs off them while three wickets fell as a Ngidi slower ball saw Holder sky the ball to Markram to fall for 16 off 11 (1x4, 1x6).

Hetmyer, 17 off 10 (2x6), then skied a slog off Shamsi to Rabada and the latter then bowled Kieron Pollard (1) with a fuller delivery, with the score 106 for five after 13 overs.

Andre Russell, 25 off 16 balls (3x6), dominated a quick 34-run partnership in four overs with Nicholas Pooran but his wicket at the end of the 17th over from Nortje (2-29), which had gone for 16 off the first five balls, was crucial as Russell hit a low full toss to a flying Markram at long-on with the Windies 140 for six.

Nine runs off Ngidi’s 18th over and just four runs off Nortje’s 19th, including the important wicket of Pooran, trapped LBW for 27 off 28 balls (1x4, 1x6), left the home side with too much to do in the end.

SA BATTING COLLAPSES AFTER DE KOCK FIFTY

In the first innings, it was another poor finish from the Proteas batsmen that spoiled De Kock’s solid contribution of 72 off 51 deliveries, with five fours and two sixes.

The final three overs of the innings saw the Proteas score just 21 runs while losing five wickets in that period as they slipped from 146 for three at the end of the 17th to their final total.

Windies opening bowler Obed McCoy put in a superb showing, posting career-best figures of 4-21, while he was backed up brilliantly by Dwayne Bravo who picked up 3-25.

It was Bravo who started the crash in the 18th over as he removed dangerman De Kock, who moved across his stumps to pull a full and wide ball straight to Simmons at short leg before he had new man David Miller (2) also caught by Simmons, this time at backward point as the visitors slipped to 150 for five.

McCoy’s 19th saw him bowl Linde for a fourth-ball duck with the first ball, while Van der Dussen, who hit a decent 32 off 24 balls (2x4, 1x6), hammered the fifth for a big maximum which was the only boundary to be hit off McCoy’s four overs.

However, he had the last laugh as Van der Dussen was caught by Hetmeyr after toe-ending the last ball to backward point.

The final over saw Nortje run out for a third-ball duck with just six coming off it as the Proteas limped to the break.

SOLID START

At the start of play the Windies won the toss and elected to field for the third time in a row.

The Proteas got their innings off to a solid start as De Kock and Reeza Hendricks scored 42 off the first four overs, including hitting two fours and a six off Russell’s third over and two boundaries in Kevin Sinclair’s fourth which went for 11.

The fifth over from McCoy, however, turned the innings on its head as he removed Hendricks (17) with the first ball, caught by Allen on the deep-backward square-leg boundary and then captain Temba Bavuma (1) after he top edged a slower ball to Hetmeyr as they slipped to 44 for two.

De Kock and Markram then needed to rebuild the innings and took a couple of overs to knock the ball around before they targeted Sinclair’s eighth, with Markram hitting a six as 11 came off it, and Allen’s ninth as two fours and a lovely straight-hit maximum from De Kock saw 17 off it with the Proteas well-placed on 85 for two.

Markram, who was just looking settled, then fell in the next over for 23 off 18 balls (1x4, 1x6) as he mis-hit a slower full toss from Bravo straight to Allen at long off to end a 45-run stand.

Van Der Dussen joined De Kock and they then shared in a good 60-run partnership off 7.3 overs before the Proteas, for the third game in a row, suffered a disastrous end-of-innings collapse.

WEST INDIES: Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (capt), Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Obed McCoy, Kevin Sinclair

SOUTH AFRICA: Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (capt), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi