South Africa 176 for 1 (Markram 86*, Pretorius 44, Chase 1-31) beat West Indies 173 for 7 (Hetmyer 48, King 27, Linde 3-25) by 9 wickets
Another dark square was added to the West Indies’ chequered preparation ahead of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Tuesday, following their 9-wicket loss to South Africa in the first T20I at Boland Park. Despite handy knocks from Shimron Hetmyer and Brandon King, the Caribbean side’s acceleration failure at the death proved decisive.
With consecutive boundaries off Kagiso Rabada’s first over, Brandon King set the tone for Windies’ opening partnership alongside Johnson Charles. The pair shared in a 39-run stand from 23 balls before Charles was bowled by Keshav Maharaj for 13 in the 4th over.
Charles’ wicket was the first of three the visitors lost in three overs. King was next to fall, bowled by Corbin Bosch for 27 (16 balls), followed by Sherfane Rutherford, who was cleaned up by Maharaj for 6, with 50 runs on the board in the sixth.
West Indies sent all-rounder Matthew Forde ahead of Shimron Hetmyer at No.5. He hit two sixes in his 12-ball 16 before he too fell to Bosch at 79 for four in the ninth.
Stand-in captain Roston Chase (22 from 1
was removed by Linde trying to accelerate after the drinks break, bringing Rovman Powell to join Hetmyer in what would be West Indies’ most fruitful partnership. They added 74 from 50 balls for the sixth wicket, laying the foundation for a strong finish in the process.