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Nicholas Pooran smashed 65 runs off 26 balls to help the West Indies beat an experimental South African side by seven wickets in a T20 international at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy Stadium on Friday.
In the first match of the three-match series, West Indies allowed the visitors to bat and got off to a good start.
The Caribbean side restricted South Africa to 42-5 in their opening eight overs, with bowler Matthew Forde taking the wickets of Ryan Rickelton (4) and captain Aiden Markram (14).
But Tristan Stubbs led the fightback, scoring 76 runs off 42 balls, including three sixes.
Stubbs received sterling support from Patrick Kruger, who scored 44 runs off 32 balls to help South Africa recover to 174-7 in 20 overs.
The match was delayed for over an hour due to heavy rain but batting conditions improved as the match progressed and the home side took full advantage.
West Indies attacked from the outset, with the opening pair of Alik Athanaze (40) and Shay Hope (51) taking 84 runs for the first wicket before Athanaze was dismissed in the eighth over when he was caught by wicketkeeper Markram from Otniel Bateman.
Pooran then snatched the match win from South Africa with a brilliant power-hitting performance, including four consecutive sixes to Berg in the 12th over.
Although South Africa gave themselves a few chances after Hope and captain Rovman Powell (7) were substituted, the outcome was never in doubt as the hosts surpassed the target with 13 balls remaining.
On a positive note for South Africa was seeing left-arm bowler Kwena Maphaka, who became the country’s youngest bowler to make his international debut at 18 years and 137 days, defeat Powell.
“He has a lot of unknown factors and he’s very young,” Markram said.
He added: “When you talk to him off the field, he shows a hunger to win, he wants to win games for South Africa.”
West Indies chose to field a strong squad against the side that eliminated them in this year’s T20 World Cup with the aim of building a settled squad ahead of the next World Cup in 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.
But Powell said the focus still needs to be on the short term.
“To be honest, many people are talking about the next T20 World Cup, but we have to take it match by match and see different players. We have to stick with it, the next World Cup is too far away for us,” he said.
The second game of the series will be held at the same venue on Sunday
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