Magnificent batting from the West Indies top three batsmen led the home side to a resounding seven-wicket victory against South Africa in the first of three T20 Internationals to be played at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad, on Friday.
South Africa’s 174-7 was comfortably outdone by the West Indies 176-3 to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Openers Alick Athinaze (40) and Shai Hope (51) crunched a first wicket stand of 84 in just eight overs before Nicholas Pooran displayed his extraordinary T20 skills with an unbeaten 65 from only 26 balls with two fours and seven sixes.
The West Indies get the job done in the first T20 International against South Africa 🌴
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Left arm fast bowler Nandre Burger (3-0-47-0) bore the heaviest brunt of the assault although captain Aiden Markram’s gamble to bowl an early over (1-0-21-0) did not earn dividends.
Ottneil Baartman (4-0-30-2) claimed a couple of early wickets while debutant Kwena Maphaka (3.5-0-25-1) had good reason to be proud of his tenacity but it was, in old terminology, a ‘hiding’ for the Proteas.
Kwena Maphaka ⭐
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Tristan Stubbs and Patrick Kruger fashioned a remarkable sixth wicket partnership of 71 to help South Africa post a competitive total of 174-7 but it proved wholly inadequate as the home side cantered to 176-3 in just 17.5 overs for a comfortable victory with 13 balls to spare.
Stubbs blasted a sensational 76 off just 42 balls while Kruger’s 44 from 32 balls (4x4, 2x6) played a critical role in rescuing the tourists from a perilous 42-5 on a pitch offering troublesome seam movement after a heavy rain shower delayed the start of play by an hour.
Stubbs scored just 24 from his first 22 balls but displayed his very best T20 skills in the final third of his innings which delivered eight fours and three sixes, split equally between classic cricket drives and inventive reverse sweeps and scoops.
Tristan Stubbs gets a well-deserved half-century 👏👏
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Kruger was a little more orthodox but hit the ball with ferocious power even happy to tackle the longer boundary, into the wind, to hit spinner Gudakesh Motie for six.
Earlier Ryan Rickelton (4) thin-edged a slash at a wide ball from seamer Matthew Forde (3-27) and Markram (14) miscued a drive to mid on against the same bowler. A leading edge from Reeza Hendricks (4) against Shamar Joseph (2-40) ended in the hands of third man and Rassie van der Dussen (5) edged a legside glance into the gloves of Nicholas Pooran.
When Donovan Ferreira (8) attempted to hit ‘inside out’ over cover against left arm spinner Akeal Hosein (1-22) but instead found the hands of cover fielder Motie, the tourists were in desperate trouble at 42-5 after just eight overs.
But Stubbs and Kruger rescued the situation and appeared to have given the Proteas a realistic chance of victory. Until Pooran evaporated those hopes.
The second and third matches take place at the same venue on Sunday and Tuesday.
WEST INDIES: Shai Hope, Alick Athanaze, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell (capt), Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph
SOUTH AFRICA: Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Aiden Markram (capt), Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Donovan Ferreira, Patrick Kruger, Bjorn Fortuin, Ottneil Baartman, Nandré Burger, Kwena Maphaka