Powell and King’s fury takes West Indies over the finish line

Rovman Powell, in his first match as full time West Indies T20I captain, led his team to victory in a short but tense affair in Centurion. After persistent rain delayed the start of the game by two hours and then reduced it to 11 overs a side, West Indies opted to put South Africa in and were mostly sharp in the field but still found themselves chasing a steep target of 132.

Brandon King’s eight-ball 23 gave them a good start and Johnson Charles’ 14-ball 28 built on that but it was Powell who ensured West Indies got over the line. They needed 46 runs off 24 balls when Powell took 23 runs off Bjorn Fortuin’s second over, to bring the required run-rate down to seven an over for the last three overs. He held his nerve when Sisanda Magala took two wickets in two balls at the other end to leave West Indies needing nine off the last over. Fittingly, Powell hit the winning runs with three balls to spare.

West Indies have now won four out of seven T20Is against South Africa in their own backyard and have a 1-0 lead in the three match series.

Hosein strikes upfront; Rossouw and Hendricks hit back

When the match got under way, players on both sides seemed keen to get things going as quickly as possible. Quinton de Kock tried to heave the first ball he faced, from Akeal Hosein, over fine leg but misread the length and top-edged.

Full Report: ESPNcricinfo