Gqeberha — West Indies skipper, Rovman Powell, guided his troops to a three-wicket victory in the first T20I against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Saturday.
South Africa had set a daunting 132-runs target for the West Indies in the rain-affected first T20I in Centurion. David Miller and Sisanda Magala had rescued South Africa from 79/6 to 131/8 and helped the team set a decent total.
Miller struck three 6s and four 4s on his way to 48 runs off 22 deliveries. Magala’s cameo towards the back end of South Africa's innings saw him clear the boundary twice for his unbeaten 18 runs off 5 balls.
In reply, the opening pair of Brandon King and Kyle Mayers were at their destructive best. King started the chase with a four off Fortuin's bowling and immediately put South Africa under pressure. The pair added 13 more runs in the over but Fortuin had the last lough when he accounted for Mayers in the same over.
That did not stop the West Indies batters from playing their natural attacking style. They made light work off the mysterious spin of Tabraiz Shamsi as Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran scored 16 runs off Shamsi's first Over.
Anrich Nortje's raw pace calmed things down at SuperSport Park.
Nortje came on to bowl as the fifth change bowling option as captain Aiden Markram opted to open the bowling with the pair of Fortuin and Parnell. Straight away, the extra pace Nortje generates made all the difference and saw Nicholas Pooran rushed by a well-directed short ball that took an edge off his bat on its way to the safe hands of Quinton de Kock.
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Nortje was difficult to hit and set the tone for Magala to follow. Magala came back on to bowl the second-last over of the match with the West Indies 18-runs away from the target.
The all-rounder took two wickets and conceded nine runs and gave South Africa a chance to win the match going into the last over.
Captain Rovman Powell did the rest for the West Indies as he smacked Parnell for a six in the second-ball of the last over. Powell took a single on the leg-side to record their second victory of the tour.
Scorecard
South Africa: 131/8 (Miller 48, Hendricks 21, Smith 2/27, Cottrell 2/31)
West Indies: 132/7 (Powell 43*, Charles 28, Magala 3/21, Nortje 1/17)