South Africa bounced back from their opening game loss to beat West Indies by eight wickets and with 10 balls to spare. Batting first, West Indies got to 143 runs while the South Africans chased it down with Markram seizing all the momentum.
Simmons eats away deliveries, Lewis clicks, and Windies get no momentum
At one point, it looked like Evin Lewis will grab the game away from the Saffas but he received little to no support from Lendl Simmons. Lewis made an impressive 56 runs off 35 balls and hit 6 sixes in the innings even taking the dangerous Shamsi out of his rhythm. However, Lendl took 35 balls for his 16 runs, a snail-paced innings that failed to create any rhythm.
The rest of the batters didn’t do as much too with Pollard making 26 runs in 20 balls and West Indies kept losing wickets without making any headways, ultimately restricted to 143/8. For the South Africans, Anrich Nortje’s pace and accuracy held Windies in check as the speedster gave just 14 runs in his four overs for the wicket of Andre Russell.
Maharaj also played a crucial role and took two wickets of dangerous-looking batters Lewis and Nicholas Pooran. Dwaine Pretorious got three wickets for 17 runs in his two overs, bowling towards the end of Windies innings Meanwhile, Kagiso Rabada took one wicket for 27 runs. Shamsi remained costly, squandering 37 runs in is 3 overs.
Reeza provides the platform, van Dussen holds his end and Markram takes flight
After Temba Bavuma got run out after a poor judgment in the first over, the duo of Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen did the rebuilding job. Both of them saw out a dangerous Akeal Hosein and kept on the run flow without playing rash shots. Hendricks fell after making a crucial 39 runs off 30 balls but things got worse for West Indies once Markram arrived.
Markram put on a six-hitting clinic in the game on his way to 51 runs off a mere 26 balls. Rassie van der Dussen held one end and played an unbeaten knock of 43 runs, mostly composed of singles and doubles. Only Akeal Hosein took a wicket and conceded just 27 runs in four overs. Meanwhile, Dwayne Brave turned out to be the most economical bowler, giving just 23 runs in four overs. The rest of the bowling looked largely lackluster.