South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada showed his class and clinched a crucial victory for his side in a nail-biting finish against West Indies in the third T20I in Grenada to go 2-1 up in the five-match series. The hosts needed 8 off the last two deliveries with Rabada needing to defend that score against an in-form Fabian Allen.
The right-arm bowler nailed a perfect yorker on the penultimate delivery of the match to get the equation down to 8 off 1 but was hit for a maximum on the last one which didn’t really keep any significance as the Proteas eventually won the match by 1 run.
Chasing a stiff target of 168, West Indies began the proceedings pretty well as openers Even Lewis and Lendl Simmons put 55 on the board for the first wicket before Simmons departed for 22 off 22. His opening partner, Lewis was soon undone by Tabraiz Shamsi for 27 off 21 and the Caribbean side were now 57/2.
Jason Holder was promoted at number three and Shimron Hetmyer who was in at four provided some resistance to the side and chipped in with a partnership of 33 runs for the third wicket.
Fast bowler Lungi Ngidi eventually broke the partnership as he sent Holder packing back in the hut for 16 off 11. The right-handed batsman’s dismissal saw a fall of a couple of wickets in quick succession and the home side were soon reduced to 104/5 with captain Kieron Pollard back in the hut.
But it was Andre Russell and Allen who steadied the ship for the side and the two aggressive batsmen took on the South African bowling attack to stitch a stand of 36 runs for the sixth wicket. Russell struck a 16-ball 25 while Allen remained unbeaten at 14 off 9. But their efforts went in vain as West Indies failed to go over the line.
Anrich Nortje and Shamsi scalped a couple of wickets each. The spinner in fact returned with some impressive figures of 2/13 in 4 overs.
Earlier, South Africa after batting first rode on Quinton de Kock’s 51-ball 72 to put up a formidable total of 167/8 in 20 overs. The visitors had a decent start to the proceedings but a flurry of wickets in the death overs denied them to post a big total on the board.
While de Kock notched up a half-century, Aiden Markram scored 23 off 18 and Van der Dussen chipped in with 32 off 24 during the course.
For the West Indies, it was Obed McCoy and Dwayne Bravo who were among the wickets. McCoy scalped a four-wicket haul for his side while Bravo returned with a three-for.
West Indies skipper Pollard admitted that the team didn’t really capitalise on the start that it got.
“It has plagued us over the two games, and we need to get the chase right. We had a lot of dots and didn't capitalize on a good start. We couldn't get over the line despite starts, and we have to find a way, that's it. We have close matches, some you win, some you lose. We need to find a way to win,” Pollard said.
The fourth encounter of the series will take place on Thursday (July 1, 2021) at the same venue.