As the saying goes, lightning has struck the same place twice. Quinton de Kock’s personal-best of 115 from 49 has made a chase of 222 seem like a walk in the park for the hosts. And this is the first ever T20I series win for the Proteas under Markram’s captaincy. Interestingly enough, it’s been the same big contribution from the same player at the same venue against the same opponent – the West Indies.
Just like the previous game, Aiden Markram won the toss and sent the visitors in to bat at SuperSport Park.
Early on, the decision was proving to be a good one, with Shai Hope falling in the second over. But the joy was short-lived, as Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer hit the ground running and built a towering 126-run 2nd-wicket partnership. Hetmyer was particularly more aggressive and took apart tearaway quick Anrich Nortje, who would give away a deluge of 59 runs in 3 overs.
The Windies were going at 11 an over, but the seasoned Keshav Maharaj managed to stage a brief fightback with the wickets of Hetmyer and Powell. But that was the last real success for any South African bowler, as Sherfane Rutherford continued the blitz. The strong left-handed reached a superlative 21-ball half-century in the final over, as the men in maroon posted a colossal 221/4 at halftime.
The Proteas innings got off to a healthy start, but Markram was the first to go after playing a couple of attractive shots.
However, Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton not only bounced back, but delivered one knockout punch after another. It was de Kock leading the way, while Rickelton took a back seat for much of the partnership. After the Powerplay, SA were in sync with the asking rate.
Things went from bad to worse for the Windies, as a dropped catch off Rickelton would prove very costly. In the meanwhile, de Kock continued to torment the bowlers, all of whom received a fair dose of maximums all over the ground.
In the 14th over, de Kock notched up his second T20I ton in 43 balls with a six off Jason Holder. Over the course of his knock, he took no prisoners whenever there was an error in line or length, and he impressed with his skillful touch from time to time.
The entertainment came to an end when he holed out to long-on, but Rickelton began to open up almost immediately after. The SA20 star notched up his personal-best as well: an unbeaten 77 from 36.
What looked to be a difficult chase got aced with 15 balls to spare, bringing about a well-earned series victory for SA.
WI 221/4 in 20 overs (Hetmyer 75, Rutherford 57*, King 49 – Maharaj 4-0-22-2)
SA 225/3 in 17.3 overs (de Kock 115, Rickelton 77* – Hosein 4-0-41-2)
Leave a Reply