Nicholas Pooran‘s punishing 65* off just 26 deliveries helped West Indies thump South Africa by 7 wickets to take 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series, in Trinidad. Nicholas Pooran‘s knock overcame a herculean effort from Tristan Stubbs who bailed the visitors out from a precarious 42/5 with his brutal 42-ball 76 to finish strong with 174/7. The home team’s openers provided a perfect launchpad with their 84-run partnership upfront, and Nicholas Pooran took charge soon after to help his side win with 13 balls to spare.
West Indies were always in control of the chase. Shai Hope and Alick Athanaze put on 84 in 49 balls for the opening wicket before Hope and Nicholas Pooran’s 54-run partnership, off 33 balls, broke South Africa’s back. Nicholas Pooran was particularly severe on an inexperienced South Africa’s attack and scored his fastest T20I fifty – off 20 balls – and finished unbeaten on 65 off 26.
Pitch and Toss
Stacy Ann-King and Daren Ganga assess the surface. Mention that the straight boundaries are 77m and the boundaries to their right are longer. State that there’s moisture due to the overhead conditions and there’s some grass on the full length area. 141 is the average first innings score but feel that more runs can be scored on this surface.
West Indies skipper Rovman Powell won the toss and have opted to field with six batters two spinners and two fast bowlers. South Africa skipper Aiden Markram expressed his desire to bowl first after being asked to bat first.
West Indies’ early triple-strike as Matthew Forde shines with a 3-fer
Put in to bat first after a brief rain delay, a new-look South African team suffered a setback in the second over itself as Matthew Forde struck on his second delivery of the match to have Ryan Rickelton caught behind. Aiden Markram counter-attacked with a six and four off Akeal Hossein, but Forde returned to send the South African skipper packing for 10-ball 14.
Shamar Joseph then struck off the first balls of his first-two overs to leave the visitors in tatters at 33/4 at the start of the seventh over. Eleven overs down, South Africa were progressing at merely five RPO with half their side back in the hut.
However, both Stubbs and Patrick Kruger had got their eye in, and the pair started to switch gears. Kruger was the aggressor at the start, welcoming Roston Chase into the attack with a six and a four, thereby breaking a dry spell of 29 deliveries.
When Romario Shepherd returned, in the 14th over, Kruger went 4,2,0,0,6,4 to make it an expensive one and also bring up the half-century of his partnership with Stubbs. However, just as the slog-overs began, South Africa lost a well-set Kruger only six away from a half-century, giving Forde his third wicket.
Powell’s decision to bowl first paid off almost immediately when, after an impressive three-run opening over from Akeal Hossein, Forde made the first incision: Ryan Rickelton reached to cut a short, wide ball and toe-ended to Pooran. Aiden Markram countered with a strong reverse sweep and pull off Hossein but then hit Forde straight to Gudakesh Motie at mid-on.
Two balls later, Reeza Hendricks got a leading edge to Shamar Joseph’s first delivery, which swirled to Hossein at deep third and continued a miserable run for the opener. Hendricks has gone past 20 in only two of his last 11 T20I innings. South Africa struggled through their powerplay and ended on 33 for 3. Rassie van der Dussen was strangled down leg as soon as the fielding restrictions were lifted and Joseph had his second.
Sensational Stubbs carries South Africa to 174 for 7 after 20 overs
Stubbs, who was playing a second fiddle until then, decided to take charge and slammed the best West Indies bowler on the day with back to back fours to make it an expensive end to his otherwise very impressive spell of 3-27. The batter reached his fifty in 33 deliveries, at the start of a seemingly never-ending 19th over from Joseph that went for 24 runs and included as many as three no-balls.
Before Shepherd could dismiss him on the penultimate ball of South Africa’s innings, Stubbs slammed two fours and a massive 98-ball six off a full-toss to help his side finish with a competitive total. South Africa were in trouble at 42 for 5 after eight overs with all their recognized batters, bar Stubbs, back in the dugout.
Stubbs initially played out of character and had just 13 runs off his first 16 balls. His first sign of intent came when he sent Motie over long-on for the biggest six of the innings, but it was only after Kruger’s innings ended that Stubbs took control. He took successive fours off full deliveries from Forde either side of the wicket, and then reached fifty off 33 balls when he hit Joseph over cover point.
He scored 23 runs off the last six balls he faced, and was going for six more when he holed out to long-on on the penultimate ball of the innings. But with 174 on the board, he had given his bowlers something to defend.
Shai Hope and Alick Athanaze give West Indies dream start
West Indies were ruthless in their pursuit of the target with the openers combining for an 84-run partnership that came at more than 10 RPO. A quiet opening over later, both Alick Athanaze and Shai Hope decided to step on the gas as the hosts posted 75/0 in the PowerPlay alone, including a 20-run over from Nandre Burger and a 21-run first over from skipper Markram. Ottniel Baartman provided the much-needed breakthrough, denying Athanaze his fifty by 10 runs.
It took ten deliveries before West Indies scored their first boundary, but when they did, the floodgates opened. Athanaze, opening the batting in his second T20I, swept Fortuin over long leg, then Hope deposited Ottniel Baartman over long-off and through deep-backward square-leg, but the real damage was done in the fifth over.
Alick Athanaze plundered 20 runs off Nandre Burger, including two sixes over deep square-leg, and a gorgeous late cut that went for four and forced South Africa to turn to a fifth bowler within the powerplay. Aiden Markram bowled himself but was even more expensive as he went for 21. Hope scored 16 of those runs off three balls – two of them down-on-one-knee sixes over long-on and long-off – to help West Indies complete an impressive 75-run powerplay.
Nicholas Pooran’s four successive sixes all but finishes off an easy chase for WI
Nicholas Pooran picked up right from where the opener left and slapped the second delivery he faced in the game for a six down the ground to, as if, sound his intentions from the word go. With Hope inching closer to his fifty, West Indies needed only 76 more in the second-half, having notched up exactly 100 in the first 10 overs.
Nicholas Pooran, however, kept Hope waiting a bit longer as he took Burger to the cleaners in the 12th over with four consecutive sixes to force the pacer out of the attack for good. Hope fell soon after his 34-ball fifty, but a well-set Nicholas Pooran remained relentless in his attack. Next in the firing line was Kruger, who was hit for a 6,4,6 in the 16th over to reduce the equation down to 11 required off the last four overs, and the formalities were completed in no time.
With 70 runs off 54 balls required for the win, Nicholas Pooran saw an opportunity to end things quickly when Burger was brought back in the 12th over. After Hope got off strike, Burger tried a slower ball to Nicholas Pooran, who had more than enough time to hit him straight over long-off for a 77-metre six.
Burger’s next ball was also pace-off and ended up being a full toss and Nicholas Pooran helped it over midwicket and into the stands. The next two balls were faster and still full and Nicholas Pooran had his eye in. He hit Burger down the ground for two more sixes to take the equation down to 45 off 48 balls. West Indies lost a couple of wickets but reached the target comfortably in the end.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Aiden Markram the loosing skipper said : The ball was coming nicely. Probably we were 10-15 runs short. They bowled superbly. Batting was challenging at the top. Was tacky upfront. Got better with time. They got off to a fantastic start as well. Maphaka is very young. Raw pace. He is here to compete and win games for SA. Fantastic signs for us a team.
Rovman Powell the winning skipper said : We bowled well in the powerplay. But we let them off after that. We looked a little rusty. As a bowling and fielding group, we need to concentrate on that. Lot of talk is about the next WC. But there is a lot of time for that. We need to play one game at a time. We have to stay in the moment.
Nicholas Pooran for his half century was named Player of the Match. He said : I felt Athanaze and Hope played well. Just had to set the game up. I took on my match ups. The first 10 overs were tricky when SA were batting. But Stubbs and Kruger played well. We always knew we had a chance.
West Indies pulled off the highest successful T20 chase at the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba to go 1-0 up in the three-match series against South Africa.
After deciding to bowl first, moments before heavy rain delayed the start of play by an hour, West Indies took control when they had South Africa 42 for 5 after eight overs. South Africa recovered thanks to a sixth-wicket partnership of 71 runs from 50 balls between Patrick Kruger and Tristan Stubbs, before Stubbs and Bjorn Fortuin shared a seventh-wicket stand of 60 off 25 balls to give the innings much needed acceleration. Matthew Forde, playing his third T20I, equaled his career-best figures of 3 for 27.
West Indies were always in control of the chase. Shai Hope and Alick Athanaze put on 84 in 49 balls for the opening wicket before Hope and Nicholas Pooran’s 54-run partnership, off 33 balls, broke South Africa’s back. Pooran was particularly severe on an inexperienced South Africa’s attack and scored his fastest T20I fifty – off 20 balls – and finished unbeaten on 65 off 26.
Without the core of their attack, especially as Lungi Ngidi was ruled out of the series with a calf strain before the match began, South Africa’s depth was tested. They fielded their youngest-ever debutant, Kwena Maphaka, at 18 years and 137 days, and he picked up his first international wicket when he had West Indies captain Rovman Powell caught at extra cover. By then, West Indies needed just three runs to win and Roston Chase finished things off with a four off the next ball. West Indies won the match with 13 balls to spare.
Windies were ruthless. Athanaze and Hope set the stage ablaze. They hammered 75 in the first 6 overs and SA never recovered from that. Athanaze fell but Nicholas Pooran came in. And he was just brutal. He smashed a sixer off Fortuin off the second ball he faced. Then he pulverized Burger by hitting him for 4 sixes off 4 balls.
Hope fell after scoring his fifty but was too late by then. Powell struggled to get going but Nicholas Pooran’s rhythm was unmatched today and he finished with 65 off 26 balls. Baartman picked up two wickets and Maphaka showed some vigor. But SA were flat on the field and that didn’t help them at all.
Windies have taken the lead. But expect the WC finalists to bounce back. They have less than 48 hours to do so. This is going to be a mouth watering series as both teams have some exceptional talent.