ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Super 12 Group 1
Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium
Toss: South Africa won and bowled
Result: South Africa won by 8 wickets
Scoreboard: https://www.windiescricket.com/matches/208646/
Evin Lewis stood tall scoring his maiden competition half-century during West Indies’ loss to South Africa. The aggressive left-hander made a shot-filled 56 from just 35 balls with three boundaries and six towering sixes, as West Indies posted 143-8 off their 20 overs before the South Africans chased down the target with 10 balls to spare.
Reflecting on the encounter, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said: “Obviously it’s just a matter that we haven’t scored enough runs. It’s disappointing today. I thought the first six overs, the end result of 43 without loss we would have taken that. We wanted to keep that momentum going but we lost a couple of wickets. It was a kind of stop-start position.”
Match proceedings began with West Indies making one change as leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr came in for left-arm seamer Obed McCoy. Lewis shared a 73-run opening partnership with Lendl Simmons after 10 overs to give the defending champions a solid platform. The highlight moments of Lewis knock was when he blasted off-spinner Aiden Markam for 18 runs in the fifth over and then bringing his fifty with slog sweep six off left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.
At one stage West Indies were 111-3 after 16 overs as both captain Pollard and Chris Gayle blasted Shamsi (3-0-37-0) for huge sixes in the 15th over as West Indies attempted to charge forward in final overs. However, this charge was derailed by a crucial moment in the final over when Pollard was given out caught by Rassie van der Dussen. The third umpire couldn’t find conclusive replay evidence to overturn the on-field umpire Aleem Dar’s ‘soft-signal’ out decision.
Kieron Pollard.jpg
In reply before South Africa eventually secured victory, West Indies fielders gave the bowlers excellent support highlighted by with Andre Russell’s producing a brilliant runout and Shimron Hetmyer at the excellent diving catch on square leg boundary to dismiss openers; South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma (2) and Reeza Hendricks (39).
West Indies now play their third Super 12 match against Bangladesh on Friday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The first ball is 6pm (10am Eastern Caribbean Time/9 am Jamaica Time).
West Indies match schedule and results
October 23: v England in Dubai (6 pm UAE time, 10 am Eastern Caribbean/9 am Jamaica) – England won by 6 wickets
October 26: v South Africa in Dubai (2 pm UAE time, 6 am Eastern Caribbean/5 am Jamaica) – South Africa won by 8 wickets
October 29: v Bangladesh in Sharjah (2 pm UAE time, 8 am Eastern Caribbean/7 am Jamaica)
November 4: v Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi (6 pm UAE time, 10 am Eastern Caribbean/9 am Jamaica)
November 6: v Australia in Abu Dhabi (2 pm UAE time, 6 am Eastern Caribbean/5 am Jamaica)
SEMI-FINALS
November 10: Group 1 winner v Group 1 second in Abu Dhabi (6 pm UAE time, 10 am Eastern Caribbean/9 am Jamaica)
November 11: Group B winner v Group A second in Dubai (6 pm UAE time, 10 am Eastern Caribbean/9 am Jamaica)
FINAL
November 14: Final in Dubai (6 pm UAE time, 10 am Eastern Caribbean/9 am Jamaica)