Shamsi tangles West Indies up in spin as De Kock shines with bat

SA’s left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi took 2/13 in four overs as the tourists edged West Indies by one run in the third Twenty20 International to take a 2-1 series lead at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s, Grenada, on Tuesday.

After being sent in to bat by the home side for the third consecutive time, the Proteas managed a below-par 167/8 in their 20 overs, but successfully defended the total as West Indies fell one run short for the loss of seven wickets.

Shamsi, the No 1-ranked bowler in T20 international cricket, slowed the home side’s scoring to a crawl in the middle of the innings and left them chasing the game. They needed 15 runs off the final over from Kagiso Rabada, but Fabian Allen (14 not out) battled with the pace and swing from the tall seamer and they fell agonisingly short.

Evin Lewis and Nicholas Pooran were the top scorers for West Indies, both with 27, their chase hampered by the fact that none of the batsmen managed to kick on to a half-century.

In-form Quinton de Kock was the mainstay of the SA innings, scoring 72 from 51 balls. He put on 60 for the fourth wicket with Rassie van der Dussen (32 from 24 balls).

At one stage the tourists looked as though they would score close to 200, but wily seamers Obed McCoy (4/22) and Dwayne Bravo (3/25) slowed the scoring rate with their variations and change of pace as they picked up wickets at regular intervals.

The fourth match in the five-game series will be played at the same venue on Thursday.

Reuters