West Indies 175 for 8 (King 79, Baartman 3-26, Phehlukwayo 3-28) won South Africa 147 (Hendricks 87, Motie 3-25, Forde 3-27) by 28 runs
On home soil and in his first match as international captain, King dominated South Africa upfront and set the tone for West Indies’ comeback at Sabina Park. He enjoyed most of the strike in the first three overs and took advantage of it. He faced 16 off 18 balls and scored 28, including three fours and two sixes.
Instead, Charles only saw two balls and was scoreless. Charles became Baartman’s first international wicket, but King went on to record the fastest T20I fifty off 26 balls and was closing in on his highest score in a display headlined by a ground-breaking move at the crease that included exposing his stumps. Phehlukwayo finally took advantage of King making space when he sent a full, wide ball that King had to catch, and he fingered it to van der Dussen, who raced to his right from the covers. King was dismissed at the end of the 11th over for 79, six short of his T20I career best.
The West Indian middle class is in decline
After King’s start, West Indies should have been looking at a total of over 200, but their middle-order could not support their stand-in captain’s start. None from Andre Fletcher could reach double figures and Matthew Forde’s 5 was the highest score outside the top four. Fletcher and Fabian Allen were guilty of trying to play Phehlukwayo over the line and fell and were trapped lbw respectively, while Akeal Hosein and Forde were deceived by Baartman’s variations. Hossain was bowled with a seam swing and Ford pulled a square ball with the knuckle of the holder. Motie’s over-out in the final over meant West Indies lost 6 for 40 in the final third of their innings.
After figures of 0 for 54 in his first T20I, against England last December, Forde may have wondered if he should chase the leather again when De Kock hit his first ball for four. It was a brilliantly timed shot, with no footwork at all, as de Kock smashed Ford straight down the ground. But the young West Indian had the perfect answer. His next delivery was a long way off, de Kock neglected to swing his legs again and was left behind. De Kock’s dismissal for 4 meant he has only passed fifty three times in 30 innings, all in T20s, since his ODI retirement last November and has a top score of 12 from his last five trips to the crease.
Another Hendricks half century
Hendricks controversially missed out on a place in South Africa’s starting XI at the 2022 T20 World Cup, despite scoring four consecutive fifties in the lead-up, because he could not dislodge captain Temba Bavuma. But there should be no reason not to start the tournament this time. His 87 was his 10th T20 half-century of 2024 and the 49th of his career and was the crucial knock in a disappointing performance in South Africa. He was the only player to score more than 20. The highlights of his performance were the way he timed the ball early and then showed his power hitting towards the end, albeit too late to get South Africa over the line .