Roston Chase and Gudakesh Motie played starring roles to lead the West Indies to a 16-run win over South Africa and an unassailable 2-0 series lead at Sabina Park in Kingston on Saturday.
The hosts, after winning the toss and batting first, made an imposing 207-7 from their 20 overs on a much-improved Sabina Park pitch.
Stand-in Captain Brandon King, who stood out with a top score of 79 in the first T20I, got the ball rolling quickly on Saturday with a 13-run third over off the bowling of Anrich Nortje, who South Africa brought in for this game in place of Gerald Coetzee.
Johnson Charles, playing his 50th T20I, once again failed to make any inroads with the bat as he was first to fall, caught in the deep off the bowling of Bjorn Fortuin for seven.
Kyle Mayers joined the skipper and the pair brought the score up to 51-1 at the end of the first powerplay with King 35* off 20 balls and looking set for another big one and Mayers on nine from seven balls.
Unfortunately for the hosts and the Sabina Park crowd, King’s knock didn’t last much longer as he became the first T20I wicket for debutant Nqaba Peter when he was caught at long on for 36 in the seventh over.
Peter got his second wicket not long after when Mayers, after hitting a six the ball before, became the third West Indies batsman to get out caught in the deep. He made a 16-ball 32 including two fours and three sixes. The score at the time of his wicket was 83-3 with one ball left in the ninth over.
At the halfway point, the hosts were 88-3 with Roston Chase and Andre Fletcher at the crease on 10 and three, respectively.
The pair then batted beautifully to put on a further 56 in short time before Fletcher fell for 29 to leave the West Indies 139-4 with five overs left.
Not long after, Chase brought up an excellent maiden T20I fifty with a flat six over mid-wicket off Lungi Ngidi in the 17th over. His milestone came off 30 balls.
The 19th over proved to be the most crucial for the West Indies as a trio of sixes from Romario Shepherd brought the score past the 200 mark before he fell off the last ball of that over for 26 off just 13 balls.
In the end, Chase finished 67* off just 38 balls including seven fours and two sixes.
Peter was the pick of the South African bowlers with 2-32 from his four overs while Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo took 2-41 and 2-51 from their respective four over spells.
The start from South Africa then had Sabina Park silent as openers Reeza Hendricks and Quinton De Kock absolutely hammered the West Indian bowling around the park on the way to an opening partnership of 81 in the first five overs.
The last ball of that fifth over proved to be the start of the West Indian fightback as De Kock took one risk too many and was bowled by Akeal Hosein for 41 off just 17 balls including four fours and as many sixes.
Three balls later, one became two for the Windies as Reeza Hendricks, who made 87 in the first game on Thursday, was dismissed by Chase for 34 to leave the tourists 83-2 at the halfway point of the sixth over.
Ryan Rickelton and Matthew Breetzke then added a further 30 before the latter went for an ill-advised second run and was run out thanks to a brilliant throw from the deep mid-wicket boundary by Shamar Joseph for 12 off the penultimate ball of the 10th over.
Rickelton was next to go, caught off the bowling of Romario Shepherd for 19 to leave the score at 124-4 off 12 overs.
Not long after, Andile Phehlukwayo fell to another brilliant piece of fielding from Joseph, this time a catch in the deep off the bowling of Gudakesh Motie for three to leave the South Africans reeling at 138-5 in the 15th over.
Any chance South Africa had of pulling off the chase was dashed when Gudakesh Motie dismissed both Rassie Van Der Dussen (30) and Wiaan Mulder (9) in the 17th over.
In the end, South Africa reached 191-7 from their 20 overs, 16 runs short of their target.
Motie ended with 3-22 from his four overs while Shepherd bowled a crucial spell with 1-21 from his four.
Chase, who was named man of the match, completed a fine all-round performance with 1-26 from his four overs.
Chase says the team has eyes on a series sweep.
“Obviously we’ve started the series well being 2-0 up but three is better than two. I just think it’s for us to look at some of the areas where we were weak today and plan to execute them better tomorrow and improve on the areas we did well in as well,” he said.
“The guys have been playing some good cricket, we just had a camp in Antigua and we’ve put in a lot of hard work so it’s just for us to come out and execute and mostly, enjoy the cricket. I think once you go out there to enjoy the cricket, it becomes a lot easier and takes a bit of pressure off of you so it’s just to go out there and have fun,” he added.
The third T20I is set for Sunday.
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Azam admits future as Pakistan captain is up to the PCB following Ireland win
Babar Azam has said he will leave the decision of remaining as Pakistan captain to the PCB following their disappointing T20 World Cup campaign.
The Shaheens concluded their run in the competition with a three-wicket triumph over Ireland in Florida on Sunday, but failed to progress to the Super 8 stage at the expense of the United States.
Shaheen Afridi starred for Pakistan by taking three wickets, with Azam leading from the front with the bat as he hit an unbeaten 32 to help secure the victory.
"Yes we finished well, we took early wickets with the ball," Azam said after the game. "With the bat we didn't finish well. Lost back to back wickets, got over the line in the end.
"I think with the bowling, conditions suit our bowlers, in batting few mistakes in USA, India matches, when you lose wickets pressure is on you.
"Let's see, what team needs, I'll be okay with it. Have a good bunch of players, we've to go home, chat and see where we lacked, and then come back. Couldn't finish off close games, as a team we weren't good as a team."
Pakistan's exit from the World Cup was the earliest they had been knocked out of the competition, having lost their opening two games to the USA and India.
Azam's future as the captain has been called into question, and could hand the armband over to Afridi, who was named as the new captain following Pakistan's league stage exit of the ODI World Cup in India last year.
The 29-year-old explained that conversations will be had to discuss his future as Pakistan captain, but admitted the decision is down to the PCB.
"When I left captaincy (previously), I felt that I shouldn't be captain any more and announced it myself. When PCB gave it back, that was their decision," Azam said.
"Now we'll go back and have a discussion about what all has happened here. If I leave captaincy again then I will inform everyone.
"For now, I haven't thought about it and the decision is up to PCB."
Pakistan end disappointing T20 World Cup with Ireland win
Pakistan salvage some pride in their final T20 World Cup match by holding on to earn a three-wicket victory over Ireland in Lauderhill on Sunday.
Both sides were already out of the competition before the match, but Pakistan clearly wanted to go out on a high as they came out of the blocks quickly.
Ireland got off to a nightmare start, slumping to 4-3 in just the second over. Shaheen Afridi (3-22) and Imad Wasim (3-8) impressed as Pakistan smothered their opponents, though Gareth Delany managed to gain some momentum with 31 off 19 balls.
Ireland eventually stumbled to 106-9 and looked out of sorts while bowling as well as Pakistan raced to 52-2 by the end of the eighth over.
Barry McCarthy (3-15) set up a nervy finish though as his intervention saw Pakistan lose four wickets during the next three overs.
Ireland could not hold onto their dominance though as Afridi scored two sixes in the 19th over to reach 111-7 and ensure a Pakistan win with seven balls remaining.
Pakistan are left to rue their slow start to the tournament, while Ireland finish their T20 World Cup campaign without registering a single win, with both sides now heading home.
Data Debrief: Too little, too late?
It is the second time in the tournament that Pakistan have had two bowlers take three wickets each after Naseem Shah (3-21) and Haris Rauf (3-21) in their defeat to India.
Overall, this is the lowest match aggregate (217) involving Pakistan and Ireland in T20Is.
Archer has 'exceeded expectations', says Buttler following England comeback
Jos Buttler has praised Jofra Archer upon his return to international cricket at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Archer spent over a year on the sidelines nursing an elbow injury following a recurrence of a stress fracture that ruled him out of summer cricket 12 months ago.
The 29-year-old has taken five wickets for Matthew Molt's side, the latest coming in their 41-run triumph over Namibia as they progressed to the Super 8 stage following Australia's win over Scotland.
"We were in and out looking at the weather and Jofra was asleep on the bench - he's in a really good place," said Buttler.
"I’m just delighted to see him back in an England shirt playing on the big stage."
Archer's struggles with injury have persisted for the last three years, missing England's 2023 Ashes series against the Aussies.
The fast bowler played a pivotal role in Three Lions' ODI World Cup success in 2019, and has recaptured that form which saw him take 20 wickets during that tournament.
Archer has captured a wicket in each of England's World Cup fixtures, averaging an economy rate of 5.91, only bettered by Reece Topley (3.60).
Buttler has been impressed with the 29-year-old's form in the opening stages of the tournament, but revealed his progress has exceeded his expectations.
"He’s been fantastic and is an amazing guy to have in the team to throw the ball to," said Buttler.
"He’s exceeded certainly my expectations for where he would be at. He was probably expecting that of himself."
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