West Indies go 2-0 up on South Africa ahead of T20 World Cup

The West Indies men’s cricket team are coming into form at the perfect time, recording their second consecutive win over South Africa on Saturday night ahead of the T20 World Cup next month.

Facing off against the world No.4 side for the second time in three days, the West Indies put on a clinic in Kingston to win the series with a game in hand.

The home side won the toss, choosing to get in and put a total on the board. That they did, plundering 207/7 from their 20 overs. Roston Chase was the star of the show, pillaging 67 runs from just 38 balls against South Africa.

Brandon King got the island nation off to a flying start with a 22-ball cameo that added 36 runs to the West Indies’ total. Kyle Mayers, Andre Fletcher and Romario Shepard all pitched in with healthy contributions too, dragging their side over the illustrious 200-run mark.

Few South African bowlers were spared, with the most respectable being Bjorn Fortuin’s 21/1 from four overs and Nqabayomzi Peter’s 32/2.

The South African response began well. Reeza Henricks and Quinton de Kock got their team off to a flyer, racking up 81 runs for no loss within the first five overs.

However, wickets soon came in quick succession, something that the visitors could not abate for the remainder of the match.

Gudakesh Motie led the West Indian bowling effort, claiming 22/3 as the Proteas were kept to 191/7 from their overs.

West Indies eyeing third T20 World Cup title

This surge to form comes at the perfect time for the West Indies.

In just over a month’s time, the 2024 T20 World Cup will begin, with the West Indies co-hosting the tournament alongside the United States. The Caribbean collective will open their campaign against Papua New Guinea.

This year’s T20 World Cup sees 20 teams split into four groups of five.

Each group will play a round robin, with the top two sides advancing to the Super 8 phase. Here, teams will be further split into two groups of four, with another round robin determining which are the two sides from each group that move into the semi-finals.

In the West Indies’ group are New Zealand, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Uganda. Chances are, they’ll will need to win at least three of their four games in order to qualify for the next stage of the tournament.

Bookies are confident they’ll be able to, with Bovada putting the West Indies as +137 favourites to win Group C, slightly ahead of New Zealand (+150) and Afghanistan (+300).

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