West Indies wrapped up the T20I series 3-0 with a comfortable 8-wicket win over South Africa in the third T20I at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad. With the match reduced to 13 overs due to rain, a quickfire 42* by Shai Hope alongside cameos by Nicholas Pooran (35) and Shimron Hetmyer (31*) enabled the West Indies to easily hunt the total of 116 with 22 balls to spare. Tristan Stubbs’ 40 off 15 deliveries was the shining light for South Africa in an otherwise tough night.
Shai Hope shone out for the Windies in the entire series to get away with the series award. The hosts were on the back foot early when Bjorn Fortuin had Alick Athanaze caught at mid-on in the first over but the rest of the batters grabbed the contest by the scruff of the neck. Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran shared a second-wicket partnership of 58 off 20 balls to put West Indies in a position to push for victory before an unbeaten 56-run stand between Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer ended the match with 22 balls to spare.
Pitch Report and Toss
The pitch at the Brian Lara Stadium delivered an unexpected twist in the first and second match. Traditionally recognized for being on the slower side, the surface surprisingly provided some assistance to the pacers. Fast bowlers will need to capitalize on the new ball, as there’s still movement to exploit.
West Indies skipper Roston Chase who is stand in in place of Rovman Powell and chose to bowl with Fabien Allen, Obed McCoy and Shimron Hetmyer coming in for Sherfane Rutherford, Brandon King and Shamar Joseph. South African skipper Aiden Markram batting first made two changes in the playing XI giving debut to Jason Smith and Wiaan Mulder for Rassie Van der Dussen and Donovan Ferreira
Romario Shepherd’s double-strike jolts South Africa’s charge
Romario Shepherd became the leading wicket-taker of the T20I series with two wickets in his first over, and South Africa’s tenth, to push the visitors back in their pursuit for quick runs. His first ball brought success as Aiden Markram went after a back-of-a-length ball and nicked it off. South Africa’s T20 captain has gone past 20 only once in his last seven T20I innings and only twice in his 12 knocks. Three balls later, Shepherd’s slower ball had Ryan Rickelton caught at mid-off to send South Africa from 61 for 1 to 66 for 3, with 20 balls left in their innings.
Akeal Hossein and Matthew Forde managed to sneak in some quiet overs in the beginning to keep a cap on the scoring rate. Forde attempted to cramp Ryan Rickelton for room in his second over, but the batter managed to hit through the line and scored a boundary and a six. The rain arrived a few balls later, which halted play for an hour, and resulted in the loss of seven overs per side.
Once action resumed after the delay, Reeza Hendricks was dismissed as he pulled a short delivery off the left-arm spinner to Fabian Allen at deep midwicket. Rickelton survived in the next over, as he was dropped at cover. The left-hander won the matchup against Gudakesh Motie and slog-swept him for a maximum. Aiden Markram took on Motie soon after, accounting for a four and a six in a 16-run over. Romario Shepherd scalped both batters, which brought Stubbs to the crease.
Tristan Stubbs signs off on a high in a rain curtailed match to set WI 116 target in 13 overs
First, Tristan Stubbs took the attack to Obed McCoy with two sixes and a four. Forde was on the receiving end next, with two boundaries and a maximum. Stubbs miscued a slower ball of Forde which nestled in the hands of Allen, bringing an end to a sublime 40 off 15 balls. This took South Africa to 108 for 4 in 13 overs.
After registering his first Test half-century in Trinidad earlier this month, Stubbs finished the T20I series as the highest run-scorer and displayed a level of maturity that bodes well for his future for South Africa. With South Africa in need of quick runs, he took on West Indies’ senior seamer Obed McCoy, bowling his first over of the series, to announce himself, even as he got his eye in.
Tristan Stubbs had faced just four deliveries when he pulled McCoy over backward square leg for his first six, then hit a full ball through cover for four and finally smashed a short ball over deep midwicket for a 101-metre six. Stubbs took 16 runs off three balls and finished his innings on 40 off 15 balls to push South Africa over 100 and towards a competitive total.
Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran lashed out at Kwena Maphaka to make powerful start in the Powerplay
With a revised target of 116 in 13 overs, Bjorn Fortuin picked up Alick Athanaze, who chipped it to Aiden Markram at mid-on. Nicholas Pooran wasted no time as he smashed his first ball for six of Fortuin. Nicholas Pooran continued against Lizaad Williams with two massive sixes over deep square. The carnage continued as Shai Hope latched into Kwena Maphaka, which included three sixes – all on the onside.
Nicholas Pooran continued at fifth gear against Ottniel Baartman, with a six and two boundaries, before Nicholas Pooran pulled the bowler to deep midwicket. West Indies had raced away to 60 for 2 in the four-over PowerPlay.
Kwena Maphaka’s first IPL match was a baptism of fire when Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma tore him about and he conceded 66 runs in four overs to record the most expensive figures on debut and the lessons have kept coming. Playing his third international in six days and given the ball in the third over of the shortened chase, Maphaka started with a full, wide delivery outside off which he had to bowl again.
With the gas ramped up to 141kph, Nicholas Pooran took one run off his next ball to put Shai Hope on strike and he showed Maphaka no mercy. Shai Hope sent successive short balls over the leg side for sixes before being foxed by a slower ball. Maphaka could not close out the over quickly and sent down a no-ball and another wide before Nicholas Pooran whipped him away for the third six of the over to put West Indies in charge of the chase. Maphaka’s first over cost 22 runs.
Shimron Hetmyer hits out as West Indies completes the series whitewash over South Africa with ease
It was his first T20I of the year but Hetmyer looked as though he had not missed a beat after he found his feet. It took him seven balls to find his first boundary and it came off the outside edge off Lizaad Williams but runs came easily after that.
Hetmyer pulled a Maphaka short ball over long leg for six, then sent Ottniel Baartman to opposite ends of the fields – through mid-off and backward point – for successive fours and finished the over with a third four over fine leg. He was the senior partner in a half-century partnership with Hope and scored 31 runs off 17 balls to ensure West Indies finished in style.
A few quiet overs by Patrick Kruger gave South Africa a slight breather. But this evaporated quickly as Shimron Hetmyer pulled Maphaka for a six. The shackles opened once again with the left-hander taking down Baartman for three boundaries. Hope completed the formalities with a massive six over cover.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Roston Chase the winning skipper said : Was a good experience. We wanted to win the series 3-0. Would want to thank the guys for the support. I think the powerplays, we were doing well. Today the guys came out and applied the pressure early. In a shortened game, we wanted the guys to play their natural game. We wanted to capitalize on the powerplay which would have made it easier in the chase.
Aiden Markram the losing skipper said : Tough one today. The rain didn’t help. The conditions did change. Lot of learnings for us. We will know the value of experience. Conditions wise, we have played here. We could see the bigger picture. Lot of buzz around Maphaka. He likes to compete.
Romario Shepherd Player of the Match said : I am sticking to the process coming into this. Ball by ball I am focussing on that. Today was difficult as it was a wet ball. I think I am 70 percent there. You know how good the batters are. Our fans were down (after WC). And now we have defeated the team which had knocked us out.
Shai Hope Player of the Series said : Just trusting my game. I plan well. We have a great support staff as well. I would love to bat with Alick all the time. I am sure he will be a big player. I think we have been playing good cricket. The tournament cricket is different from bilateral cricket.
Windies have cantered home here. Athanaze fell early. Pooran came and Pooran ruled. He ignited the flame and the baton was carried on by Shai Hope and Hetmyer. Both of them didn’t relent and in the end, it seemed SA were 30-40 short quite easily. The rain certainly didn’t help the visitors but you have to give it to the Windies for being so brutal yet so clinical.
A rain delay caused the series finale to start an hour later than the scheduled 3pm start but no overs were lost when play got underway. Another weather interruption, midway through the fifth over of South Africa’s innings, took 70 more minutes out of the game and reduced it to 13 overs a side.
South Africa’s total of 108 for 4 lacked significant individual contributions, which was a concern for them throughout the series. They were kept quiet by two West Indies spinners, Akeal Hossein and stand-in captain Roston Chase, who conceded 22 runs in five overs between them. Only Tristan Stubbs scored more than 30 and West Indies’ target was adjusted to 116.
The hosts were on the back foot early when Bjorn Fortuin had Alick Athanaze caught at mid-on in the first over but the rest of the batters grabbed the contest by the scruff of the neck. Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran shared a second-wicket partnership of 58 off 20 balls to put West Indies in a position to push for victory before an unbeaten 56-run stand between Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer ended the match with 22 balls to spare.
Every SA bowler went for plenty. Earlier, the rains delayed the start and a second spell curtailed the game to a 13-over a side contest. SA managed only 108 and DLS set a target of 116 in 13 overs for the hosts. But that was never going to be enough for a batting unit which is supremely high on confidence.
Powell comes forward and so does Chase, both hold the Trophy together. Windies have played like a tightly knit unit and were miles ahead of their opponents in this series. SA had a few major bowlers who didn’t play and it showed. Their batting also had a few names who were missing and SA were exposed.
But credit to the hosts for beating a very decently balanced SA unit. Windies had massive positives from this series. But SA would be looking at their combinations again. We have had a gala time bringing this series to you. SA took the Tests, Windies retorted back with the T20I series win.
Powell comes forward and so does Chase, both hold the Trophy together. Windies have played like a tightly knit unit and were miles ahead of their opponents in this series. SA had a few major bowlers who didn’t play and it showed. Their batting also had a few names who were missing and SA were exposed. But credit to the hosts for beating a very decently balanced SA unit.
Windies had massive positives from this series. But SA would be looking at their combinations again. We have had a gala time bringing this series to you. SA took the Tests, Windies retorted back with the T20I series win.
West Indies completed a clean sweep of the T20I series to underline a period of dominance against South Africa in this format. Since March 2023, they have played South Africa 10 times in T20Is and won eight matches, including back-to-back 3-0 series victories either side of the T20 World Cup. The last of those wins came in a shortened affair in Trinidad.