IN A rain-affected affair which was reduced to 13 overs per side, West Indies romped to an eight-wicket victory via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) Method in the third and final T20 versus South Africa at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba on August 27 to claim a 3-0 series sweep.
It's the regional team's second 3-0 T20 sweep over South Africa in three months, as they also achieved the feat in May in the build-up to the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup.
South Africa then dealt a knockout blow to the Windies in their Super Eight encounter at the T20 World Cup, but the hosts rebounded in fine style in Tarouba to claim the scalp of the World Cup finalists and they put an exclamation point on the series by taking the last game with 22 balls to spare.
[caption id="attachment_1105223" align="alignnone" width="1024"] West Indies cricket supporters celebrate a boundary against South Africa in a T20 match at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
Set 116 for victory after South Africa's total of 108 for four was adjusted via DLS, the West Indies batsmen launched an attack – with Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran starting the innings in ominous form.
Hope ushered the Windies home with an unbeaten 42 off 24 balls, with Pooran clouting 35 off just 13 balls.
After Alick Athanaze (one) was dismissed in the first over, Pooran immediately signaled his intentions when he struck Bjorn Fortuin for a mighty six off the first ball he faced.
Pooran then struck seamer Lizaad Williams for two gigantic sixes over the on-side in the second over, with Hope joining the party with three sixes of his own off teenager Kwena Maphaka in the third over.
Pooran and Hope's rapid 58-run partnership was ended in the fourth over when the former attempted to hit Ottniel Baartman for a fourth straight boundary.
New batsman Shimron Hetmyer (31 not out off 17 balls) had a shaky start to his innings, but he and Hope took the Windies over the line without any further damage with an unbeaten 56-run stand.
Skipper Rovman Powell was among the three players rested by the West Indies for the final T20, with Roston Chase deputising in his absence.
Approximately two hours were lost in the match due to rain before the game and at the start of the South African innings, with play being halted for an hour as the Proteas crawled to 23 without loss after 4.3 overs.
Upon the resumption, a swashbuckling Tristan Stubbs (40 off 15 balls) galvanised a stuttering South Africa innings with a brute display of hitting which contained five fours and three sixes.
Ryan Rickelton chipped in with 27 off 24 balls, and he rode his luck after being put down by Akeal Hosein and Obed McCoy.
[caption id="attachment_1105222" align="alignnone" width="1024"] South African batsman Ryan Rickelton plays a shot in the final game in their T20 series against West Indies at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba on August 27. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
Rickelton couldn't make his chances count, though, and
