Tarouba (Trinidad): Nicholas Pooran blasted 35 runs from 13 balls to lead the West Indies to an eight-wicket win over South Africa in the rain-shortened third Twenty20 cricket international, securing a 3-0 series sweep.
Rain delayed the start of play by an hour and returned in the fifth over of the South Africa innings, reducing the match to 13 overs per innings.
South Africa was 23-0 when the rain started and Tristan Stubbs dashed 40 from 15 balls to help the visitors post 108-4 after a slow start. Stubbs hit five fours and three sixes for 38 runs from boundaries. He finished the series with 144 runs at a strike-rate of 178.
Pooran almost matched him, hitting two fours and four sixes. The West Indies was 60-2 when Pooran was out to the fifth ball of the fourth over and coasted to victory with 22 balls remaining.
Shai Hope made an unbeaten 42 from 24 balls and Shimron Hetmeyer scored 31 from 17 deliveries in an unbroken partnership of 56 for the third wicket.
“Obviously coming out on top is what we wanted. We wanted to win the series 3-0,” West Indies captain Roston Chase said in a television interview.
“Before the match, at the team meeting after everyone had spoken, I just asked the boys to give me the victory because you want to start well and I just want to thank the guys for the support and the way they played with their heart today.”
No overs were lost when rain delayed the toss. The West Indies eventually won the toss and chose to bowl, with an eye on the threat of further rain.
South Africa began cautiously in humid conditions and the first boundary of its innings didn’t come until the fourth over, hit by Ryan Rickelton from the bowling of Matthew Forde. The first six of the innings came from the next ball.
The rain returned and forced the players from the field for 70 minutes, leaving South Africa on the back foot when it resumed. Reeza Hendricks was out three balls after the resumption, but that brought Stubbs to the crease and he did his best to blast South Africa to a competitive total.
Stubbs hit 6, 4, 6 from consecutive balls in the 11th over bowled by Obed McCoy and 4, 6, 4 in the final over bowled by Forde. He was out with two balls left in the innings.
Pooran then blasted the West Indies into an winning position with his brilliant 13-ball cameo. He finished with a strike rate of 269.
Hope hit four sixes in his innings and Hetmeyer hit four fours and a six as the West Indies completed a comprehensive win.
The West Indies beat South Africa 3-0 in a Twenty20 series prior to this year’s T20 World Cup, which it co-hosted with the United States, and now has swept South Africa again. But in between, South Africa eliminated the West Indies from the World Cup.
“It was a tough one today. Obviously it was stop-start with the rain which hurt us quite a bit,” South Africa captain Aiden Markram said. “Conditions changed quite a bit throughout the game as well.
“I think we got the tougher of the conditions. That being said I think there are several areas we can improve on as a team to play better cricket in tough conditions.”
