Shepherd, Pooran and Hope help West Indies sweep South Africa 3-0

West Indies completed a clean sweep of the T20I series to underline a period of dominance against South Africa in this format. Since March 2023, they have played South Africa ten times in T20I cricket and won eight matches, including back-to-back 3-0 series victories either side of the T20 World Cup.

The last of those wins came in a shortened affair in Trinidad.

A rain delay caused the series finale to start an hour later than the scheduled 3pm start time but no overs were lost when play got underway. Another weather interruption, midway through the fifth over of South Africa’s innings, took 70 more minutes out of the game and reduced it to 13 overs a side.

South Africa’s total of 108 for 4 lacked significant individual contributions, which has been a concern for them throughout the series. They were kept quiet by two West Indies’ spinners, Akeal Hosein and stand-in captain Roston Chase, who conceded 22 runs in five overs between. Only Tristan Stubbs scored more than 30 and West Indies’ target was adjusted to 116.

The hosts were on the back foot early when Bjorn Fortuin had Alick Athanaze caught at mid-on in the first over but the rest of the batters grabbed the contest by the scruff of the neck. Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran shared a second-wicket partnership of 58 off 20 balls to put West Indies in a position to push for victory before an unbeaten 56-run stand between Hope and Shimron Hetmyer ended the match with 22 balls to spare. (ESPNcricinfo)