The Windies came back strong in the T20I series against South Africa after losing the Test series 2-0 last month. However, West Indies lost the series 3-2 to South Africa after failing to win the fifth match on Saturday at the St George's stadium, Grenada.South Africa dominated for the majority of the match and comprehensively won the contest by 25 runs. South Africa remain in sixth place in the ICC's T20I team standings, while the Windies slipped to eighth place. The report of the fifth match of the Windies vs South Africa T20I Series 2021 is discussed in this article.
Windies vs. South Africa T20I Series 2021: The Fifth Match Report
The fifth game was the series decider because both sides had won two matches in the previous four games of the series. So, the expectation was that the Windies will really go for it against South Africa to win the series, but their performances disappointed the home crowd.
South Africa scored 168/4 in their allocated 20 overs after electing to bat first, courtesy of a 128-run partnership between Quinton de Kock (60) and Aiden Markram (70) for the second wicket.
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The Proteas lost opener Temba Bavuma to a superb length delivery by pacer Fidel Edwards in the third ball of the innings. Edwards was the Windies' most successful bowler, taking two wickets for 19 runs in three overs. However, none of the West Indies bowlers were able to take wickets when the team needed them the most.
The De Kock-Markram pair pushed the total to 128 in the 15th over before the Windies took control of the contest by capturing three more wickets in the next few overs and allowing only a few runs in the final five overs.
The Windies only managed to score 143/9 in their allotted 20 overs while chasing a modest target to win the series. They reached 103/3 in 14 overs and were in a strong position until the middle of the innings. Wiann Mulder dismissed both Kieron Pollard and Andrew Russell in the 15th over, shifting the balance in South Africa's favor.
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The Windies then found themselves in a tough situation and started losing wickets at regular intervals till the end of the innings. The Windies came 26 runs short of victory despite playing all of their overs and losing the series 3-2.
After winning the series, South Africa has remained in sixth place in the ICC Twenty20 team rankings, while West Indies has dropped to eighth place. Bangladesh are presently ranked tenth with 225 points. If Bangladesh win their next bilateral series against Zimbabwe, they will move up to the ninth position in the ICC rankings.
Bottom Line
Lately, South Africa and the Windies have struggled to play to their full potential on the international stage, so this series was crucial for both sides. It was a closely contested series, and in the end, the best team have won the Windies vs South Africa T20I Series 2021. Dwayne Bravo returned to the Windies national team and had an immediate impact, taking 10 wickets in five matches. On the other side, the 'player of the series' winner South African TabraizShamsi took 7 wickets with a only 4 economy rate. West Indies will face Australia in their next international series, which begins on Friday (July 9).
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