The West Indies concluded their tour
of South Africa with an encouraging
2-1 series win, after losing the Test
series 2-0 and drawing the ODI series
1-1.
West Indies defeated South Africa in the
first T201 which was reduced to 11 overs per
side after the oval was affected by rain. South
Africa made 131/8, thanks to an explosive 48
off 18 deliveries by David Miller. Captian Rovman
Powell took the West Indies to victory with a
blistering 43 off 18 balls. He was declared ‘Player
of the match’. The second T201 was a run fest.
Johnson Charles batted superbly to reach a well-deserved
century. This enabled the West Indies
to reach a good score of 258, giving South Africa
259 to win. In their turn at the crease, the South
Africans put on a sizzling batting
display, reaching the target in the
19th over, with six wickets intact.
The decider, which was played
two days later, reminded us all
that cricket is a game of glorious
uncertainties and showed that
chasing a target and winning
on two consecutive occasions
doesn’t happen so easily.
The surface for the third and final
match was far more competitive
than the surface at SuperSport
Park, and there was definitely
something in the pitch for the
bowlers. The West Indies batted
first and started aggressively, but
wickets fell constantly and by the
end of the 18th over, it seemed
that West Indies would be
bowled out for under 200. This
was not to be. South Africa lost
their grip on the game, bleeding
43 runs in the last two overs.
Ironically, it was their best bowler
on that night, Kagiso Rabada,
who faltered badly in the final
over. Rabada had delivered a
double strike in his opening over
taking the important wickets
of Kyle Mayers and Johnson
Charles. Mayers was bowled
by Rabada, while attempting
to pull a well-directed delivery.
Rabada then deceived Johnson
Charles, who has smashed a 46-
ball 118 at SuperSport Park, the
Sunday before. Charles misread
the length of the delivery and
was also bowled. Rabada had
decent figures of 2/24 in his first
three overs, and was therefore
confident at the start of his
fourth over. Heinrich Klaasen
dropped a skied pull off Rabada’s
first delivery of his final over and
that seemed to have caused him
to lose focus. The ball hung in the
air for a long time before falling,
with Klaasen never positioning
himself properly underneath
it. This was a bad miss and the
South Africans paid dearly for it.
Shepherd went on to hit three
sixes and a four in a vicious
assault on South Africa’s premier
bowler, who battled to settle
into a consistent line and length.
His over eventually went for 26
runs. Romario Shepherd made a
brilliant 44 off 22 balls.
The ninthwicket partnership with Alzarri
Joseph helped the West Indies
go on to make a challenging
220. Nicholas Pooran had earlier
contributed an entertaining 41
off 19 deliveries.
In South Africa’s turn at the
crease, they faced a more
disciplined bowling performance
from the West Indies. The West Indies bowlers kept
Quinton caged, with a packed off-side. Quinton
himself seemed a bit off. He struggled to find his
timing, probably because he was trying to hit the ball
too hard. Reeza Hendricks continued his excellent
form with a career-best 83 off 44, hitting 11 fours
and two sixes. He received some support from Rilee
Rossouw, who also batted well, scoring 42 off 21 balls,
before he lost concentration and charged a slower
ball bouncer from Jason Holder and was caught by
wicketkeeper Charles.
Alzarri Joseph was clinical in his bowling, using skill and pace to steadily dismantle
the South African middle order, claiming a career best
5/40. South Africa ended on 213-6, losing by
7 runs. Alzarri was named ‘Player of the Match’ and
deservedly so, though some may argue that Romario
Shepherd should have gotten that award. But a five-wicket
haul in any format of the game is a great
achievement. Besides, Joseph contributed 14 in that
crucial 9th wicket partnership with Shepherd.
This was a good series win for West Indies, as we
look ahead to the ICC T20 World Cup. The West
Indies will host that tournament in June next year
2024. West Indies new T20 captain Rovman Powell
must be extremely pleased with the performance
of his team.
The West Indies can take away many
positives from this series. Their top order batsmen
performed reasonably well. Some still have to learn
to be more cautious in their strokeplay. Brandon King
showed signs of brilliant and it was a pity that he did
not go on to make more runs. Mayers is aggressive
at the top, but still go too cheaply due to injudicious
strokeplay. Pooran continues to show how talented
he is as a middle order batsman, but it is Johnson
Charles; the ‘Player of the Series’, that has impressed
me. Johnson Charles played his first T20 for West
Indies against England in September 2011,
opening with Dwayne Smith. He was part of
the West Indies squad for the 2012 and 2016
T20 World Cups. He produced some good
knocks in the 2016 world cup, including a
useful 52 which helped West Indies to
knock India out of the tournament.
Following the tournament Charles’s
form with the bat declined. He had
some awful dismissals in T201s afterwards, which resulted in
him being excluded from the T20 team for some time. One
of his main issues was his tendency to ‘play across the line’ to
good length deliveries, resulting in cheap dismissals. He has
apparently been working hard to improve, and it is great to see
him back in the team and contributing so well. Johnson Charles
has awesome power-hitting ability, and would be a great asset
to the team for the T20 World Cup next year.
The bowling was my main concern, but our bowlers did well in
this last T20. Alzarri Joseph has stood up and shown that he is
ready to be the leader of an attack that is steadily improving.
Romario Shepherd has shown his usefulness as an allrounder
in the team, but Odean Smith has not had a good series.
Cottrell continues to bowl well at the top and should definitely
remain in the squad. His energy and commitment in the field
is commendable. Brandon King on the other hand needs to
improve in that area. His fielding is atrocious.
Obed McCoy is expected to rejoin the squad once fully fit. Once again, let me
offer congratulations to the West Indies on a satisfying series
win and wish the team all the best, as they prepare to face India
in a five-match T20I series later this year. Well done guys