Cricket
Windies draw first blood in Tarouba─── MORGAN PIEK 08:26 Sat, 24 Aug 2024
“We saw the ball coming on well later in the evening. Because of that we probably came up a few short. We would've liked 20 more and the wicket was tacky upfront and the wicket then got better and better.”
The West Indies drew first blood in the three-match T20 International series with a 7-wicket win in the 1st match on Friday in Tarouba.
The Windies won the toss and asked South Africa to have a bat first at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium.
The Proteas posted a below par 147/7 in their allotted 20-over with Tristan Stubbs and Patrick Kruger being the only batters to trouble the scorers. Stubbs blasted 76-runs of 42 deliveries with eight fours and two sixes. The former Knights allrounder, Kruger, in turn scored 44-runs off 32-balls at the backend of the innings to give the bowlers something to defend.
Matthew Forde was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with 3/27 in his 4-overs, while Shamar Joseph took 2/40 in his 4-overs.
Patrick Kruger and Tristan Stubbs. Photo: Cricinfo
In reply, a first-wicket partnership of 84-runs between Alick Athanaze and Shai Hope set up the win for the Calypso Boys. Athanaze scored 40 runs, while Hope contributed 51. The wicketkeeper, Nicolas Pooran in turn top-scored for the winning with a man of the match knock of 65-runs of just 26 balls. He hit seven sixes and two fours in this gem of an innings.
The former Knights seamer Ottneil Baartman was the pick of the South African bowlers with 2/30, while the 18-year-old Kwena Maphaka picked up his maiden wicket for South Africa with 1/25 in his 3.5 overs.
Aiden Markram and Kwena Maphaka. Photo: Cricinfo
Maphaka was most likely not expecting to make his debut in the first match of the series, however, shortly before play, Lungi Ngidi was ruled out of the series because of an injury, and the this forced youngster to be thrown into the deep end.
The Proteas captain, Aiden Markram, said they fell short with the batting and the wicket became a lot better to bat on deeper into the game, while he also believes the teenager Maphaka has a bright future.
“We saw the ball coming on well later in the evening,” said Markram.
“Because of that we probably came up a few short. We would've liked 20 more and the wicket was tacky upfront and the wicket then got better and better.
“Maphaka has a lot of X-factor and is really young. He has hunger when you speak to him off the field and he wants to win games for South Africa.”
The second T20 International in Tarouba with be played at 21:00 on Sunday.
