Nicholas Pooran's explosive 65 from 26 balls eased the West Indies to a seven-wicket Twenty20 win over South Africa as the home side took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. After being sent in to bat, South Africa, without several of their regular players who were rested, posted 7-174 in their 20 overs in Trinidad on Friday. But it never looked enough as the West Indies' top-three batters crashed the ball to all parts of the ground at the Brian Lara Stadium to reach their target with 13 balls to spare.
The destructive Pooran launched seven sixes to go with two fours as he finished off the innings in style. But the platform was laid by a 84-run opening stand between Alick Athanaze (40 from 30 balls) and Shai Hope (51 from 36 balls) before both were dismissed by South African seamer Ottneil Baartman (2-30).
South Africa handed a debut to fast bowler Kwena Maphaka, who at the 18 years and 137 days is the youngest to play in a T20 International for his country. He grabbed his first wicket when he dismissed West Indies captain Rovman Powell (7), caught at cover.
Seamer Matthew Forde was the pick of the home bowlers with 3-27, while Shamar Joseph returned figures of 2-40.
The second match in the series will be at the same venue on Sunday.
Pooran's Power Play
The West Indies put the visitors in to bat, in the first of the three match series, and made a strong start with the bowl. The Caribbean side limited South Africa to 42-5 from the opening eight overs, with seamer Matthew Forde picking up the wickets of Ryan Rickelton (4) and skipper Aiden Markram (14). But Tristan Stubbs led the fightback with a superb 76 from 42 balls including three sixes.
Stubbs was well supported by Patrick Kruger who struck 44 from 32 balls as South Africa recovered to 174-7 from their 20 overs. The game had been delayed for over an hour by heavy rain but as the game went on conditions for batting improved and the home side took full advantage.
West Indies went on the attack from the outset with the opening pair of Alick Athanaze (40) and Shai Hope (51) putting on 84 from the opening wicket before Athanaze was removed in the eighth over, caught by keeper Markram off Ottneil Baartman.
Pooran then took the game away from the Proteas with a brilliant display of power hitting, including smashing Burger for four sixes in a row in the 12th over. Although South Africa gave themselves some chance with the removal of Hope and skipper Rovman Powell (7) the outcome was never in doubt as the home side passed the target with 13 balls to spare.
Maphaka Makes his Mark
The positive note for South Africa was the sight of left-arm seamer Kwena Maphaka — the youngest man to make his international debut for the country at 18 years and 137 days — taking the wicket of Powell. “He has a lot of X-factor and is really young,” said Markram. “He has hunger when you speak to him off the field and he wants to win games for South Africa,” he added.
Looking Ahead: Building for 2026
The West Indies opted to field a strong side, against the team that eliminated them from this year’s T20 World Cup, with the aim of building a consistent unit ahead of the next World Cup in 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. But Powell said the focus needed to remain on the shorter term. “To be honest, a lot of talk is around the next T20 World Cup but we have to play one game at a time and see different players. We have to stay in the process and the next World Cup is too far away for us,” he said.
The second game in the series will be held at the same venue on Sunday.
Rustiness and Resilience
Rovman Powell insists West Indies must not get too far ahead of themselves after what he saw as an “unacceptable” level of rustiness against South Africa. The Windies won by seven wickets in Friday’s T20I to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. They have now won five of their last six T20Is against the Proteas, having bounced back from a three-wicket defeat at the T20 World Cup in June. However, Powell was far from happy with what he saw, with South Africa posting a competitive 174-7 - Tristan Stubbs top-scoring with 76 and Patrick Kruger adding 44.
Powell said: “I think it’s always good to go 1-0 up. We bowled well in the powerplay and though we let them off a bit, we were good with the bat. The guys look a bit rusty, which is unacceptable at this level. To be honest, a lot of talk is around the next T20 World Cup but we have to play one game at a time and see different players. We have to stay in the moment and the 2026 T20 World Cup is too far for us.”
Shai Hope’s 51 and Alick Athanaze’s 40 got the Windies’ chase off to a strong start, paving the way for Nicholas Pooran to take centre stage with an unbeaten 65, which included reeling off four straight sixes in one over. “I just felt like Shai and Alick put South Africa under pressure in the powerplay,” said Pooran, who was named Player of the Match. “At the ten-over mark, we knew it was a better wicket and my job was simple and I just had to take on my match-ups. With rain around, the first ten overs were tricky when South Africa batted. Stubbs and Kruger played well, but we knew the wicket would get better.”
Along with Stubbs’ performance with the bat, one other bright spark for South Africa in their defeat was teenager Kwena Maphaka, who claimed his maiden international wicket. “Maphaka has a lot of X-factor and is really young,” said Proteas captain Aiden Markram. “He has hunger when you speak to him off the field and he wants to win games for South Africa.”
