Proteas captain Aiden Markram scored an unbeaten 86 to lead South Africa to a commanding nine-wicket victory in the opening KFC T20 International against the West Indies at Boland Park in Paarl on Tuesday evening.
The right-handed opening barely put a foot wrong during his 47-ball innings, which included nine boundaries and three maximums as he guided the Proteas to 176 for one with 13 balls to spare in response to the West Indies’ 173 for seven after winning the toss and electing to bowl first.
“South Africa simply played better than we did today. We know Paarl is normally low and slow, but the pitch actually played well — even better under lights. We were just a bit short in the first half and paid for it,” said Roston Chase at the post-match press conference.
“The wicket looked good, but it played a bit slow and was tough to score on. Their 178 was still a competitive total, and the way we batted tonight was pretty special,” stated George Linde at the post-match press conference.
Having scored a previous career-best of 78 against the West Indies in Grenada back in 2021, Markram drove Jason Holder (3.5-0-41-0) down the ground for six to surpass that and the pulled the next ball for four to clinch victory.
“It’s exciting to see Aiden in such good form. The way he bats, the way he makes it look easy — his shot selection is incredible. He’s an exceptional leader and we all follow him,” noted Linde.
Markram’s opening stand with Lhuan-dre Pretorius (44) of 83 came from just 49 deliveries, setting the perfect platform for the chase of the above-par target. Pretorius was aggressive as normal, striking six fours and a six from 28 deliveries before being caught by Matthew Forde on the mid-wicket fence from the bowling of Roston Chase (4-0-31-1).
Markram had been given a life by Akeal Hosein at mid-off from the bowling of Holder when on 27, but the South African skipper calmed down and played the near-perfect innings. Despite the loss of Pretorius’ wicket, Markram was assisted perfectly by Ryan Rickelton.
The Proteas wicketkeeper cracked one boundary and two maximums from 32 deliveries, to end unbeaten on 40 as he and Markram posted an unbeaten 93 from only 62 balls for the second wicket. Such was Markram’s control that he only conceded eight dot balls with a strike-rate of 182.98.
“It’s always a privilege to play for South Africa, no matter who we face. But this is a good taster before the World Cup — the West Indies always come hard with bat and ball and never let you settle,” commented the Proteas spinner.
Earlier, Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell combined for an excellent sixth-wicket stand of 74 from 52 deliveries to guide the West Indies to that above-par total of 173 for seven after the visitors found themselves in some difficulty at 95 for five in the 12th.
“I thought we were probably 15–20 runs short. We were initially looking for 180–185. We didn’t get the best start in the Powerplay, and it was hard to pull the game back from there. Their batters didn’t have to take many risks to keep up with the rate,” said Chase.
“They’re a dangerous batting side. If you let them stay in, they can really hurt you. They played some good cricket shots tonight, and they’re always allowed to play well,” said Linde.
The West Indies had made a fast start as Brandon King (27) and Johnson Charles (13) added 39 runs briskly for the opening stand from just 24 balls before Keshav Maharaj (4-0-44-2) found a gap in Charles’ defences and castled the middle stump.
Then the visitors started chopping the ball onto their own stumps. King, after striking five fours and a six from 16 balls, chopped a ball from Corbin Bosch (4-0-35-2) onto his stumps before Sherfane Rutherford (6) did the same against Maharaj.
Chase (22) repeated the feat against George Linde (4-0-25-3) after Forde (16) had given his wicket away, well-caught by Kagiso Rabada diving forward at long-on from the bowling of Bosch.
“We had a decent start in our Powerplay as well, but we lost too many wickets at crucial stages. Every time we had momentum going our way, we gave it back to South Africa. That slowed us down a lot,” added the stand-in West Indies captain.
Hetmyer and Powell, who ended unbeaten on 29 from 25 balls, gave the West Indies a total worth defending under the Paarl night sky. Chasing is never easy in the Cape Winelands but Hetmyer, who struck four boundaries and three maximums from 32 balls, had given the visitors a chance, but did not expect the dominant performance from Markram, Pretorius and Rickelton.
Hetmyer, chasing some big runs at the backend of the innings, launched Linde, who bowled the final over, towards deep mid-wicket where Dewald Brevis claimed the catch, before popping the ball in the air to avoid carrying the ball over the rope, and then claiming the catch.
“Shai and Sherfane brought us back into the game beautifully. We were banking on that last over to give us 20–25 runs, but it didn’t happen. That’s just how cricket goes sometimes,” ended Chase.
Linde then accounted for Jason Holder for just a single, launched down towards Bosch at long-on.
*As published on Supersport.com