A BLISTERING knock of 79 from captain Brandon King steered West Indies to a 1-0 lead in a three-match T20 series against South Africa on May 23 as international cricket returned to Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica for the first time in almost two years.
The Jamaicans came out in their numbers and left the venue smiling, as West Indies came away with a comfortable 28-run win.
Batting first, King impressed his hometown crowd with an innings of 79 off 45 balls (six fours, six sixes).
King faced the majority of deliveries for West Indies early on. The Windies skipper lost his opening partner Johnson Charles for one, but the total was already 36 with King dominating the strike.
King found the fence regularly as he raced to 50 off 26 balls, his fastest half century in international cricket.
The crowd that showed up continued to be entertained by King, as he chipped down the wicket to hit spinner Bjorn Fortuin for a straight six.
The right-hander rode his luck at times, swinging and missing repeatedly.
One of the shots of the day was when King played a short delivery from Gerald Coetzee over backward point for six. He opened the face of the bat and used a combination of power and the pace of the ball to steer the ball over the boundary.
If the fans were in doubt that shot was worth the entrance fee, a flick for six by King off fast bowler Ottniel Baartman would have erased that. King made the shot look effortless.
Kyle Mayers started to settle down at the crease, hitting fast bowler Wiaan Mulder for two sixes in one over. The boundaries were backed up by good running in between the wickets from Mayers and King as West Indies were in control on 109/1 after ten overs.
King's innings came to an end when he skied a delivery from Andile Phehlukwayo to give South Africa captain Rassie van der Dussen the catch fielding at mid-off. West Indies were reduced to 134/3 in the 14th over when Mayers was dismissed, caught for 34 off 25 balls. It was the start of a collapse as West Indies lost six wickets for 41 runs and were limited to 175/8 in their 20 overs.
Roston Chase tried to keep the innings together with 32 not out off 30 balls. Ottniel Baartman (3/26) and Andile Phehlukwayo (3/28) picked up three wickets each to lead the way for South Africa.
South Africa's batting never got going as wickets fell regularly as they were all out for 147 in 19.5 overs. They were quickly reduced to 11/2, including the wicket of the dangerous Quinton de Kock for four, caught by wicket-keeper Andre Fletcher to give fast bowler Matthew Forde the scalp. Despite wickets falling around him, opener Reeza Hendricks looked as though he was batting on a different wicket.
King kept switching his bowlers as seven bowlers were used by the captain. South Africa were still in with a chance of progressing to 77/3 after ten overs, but left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie grabbed two wickets in the 11th over to swing the match in the favour of West Indies.
Hendricks continued to battle at the crease, but with wickets falling the target
