Tri Series 2016, 9th Match: South Africa v West Indies - 5 Talking Points

West Indies scripted a fantastic 100 run over South Africa to secure a place in the final of the Tri-Nation series. It was the second in the series the hosts had managed to get better of the South African side. With Australia already in the final, it was a winner take all situation for both the team yesterday when they came to play the last league game of the Barbados leg. Batting first, West Indies recovered from an early shake-up and posted a 280 runs target for South Africa to chase with the help of Darren Bravo’s century and Kieron Pollard’s blazing half-century. In reply, the South Africans were toppled by Shannon Gabriel and Sunil Narine and cild muster only 185, inflicting a huge 100 runs margin.

1.Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell jolt West Indies:

Kagiso Rabada (3/32) and Wayne Parnell (1/63) gave a wonderful start to South Africa scalping the top four Windies batsmen for single digit scores. Parnell was the first to strike, taking Andre Fletcher for just 8 in the 2nd over. Rabada began dismantling the opposition. In the following over he snapped attacking opener Johnston Charles and the dangerous Marlon Samuels off consecutive deliveries in the 3rd over. Charles had made only four before departing while Samuels, who had scored a century I the previous game, registered a golden duck. Denesh Ramdin, too, could not do anything significant as he became Rabada’s third victim in the 5th over.

2. A century after nearly two years for Darren Bravo:

Rabada and Parnell had made a mess of the West Indies batting order and had left them tattering at 21/4. Samuels and Ramdin, the pair which rescued the team in the previous game were already back to the pavilion. But, West Indies had a new hero yesterday – Darren Bravo. The left-hander had not made any significant contribution in the last 9 innings but the pressure situation brought the best out of him. Bravo came in during a chaos situation and helped his team sail through the choppy waters and post a good total eventually. His 156 runs stand with Kieron Pollard for the 5th wicket was the backbone of the West Indian innings. He went on to complete his 3rd ODI century, his first since 2014. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay in the middle for long after completing his century after he was made to depart in the 37th over.

3. Bowlers help the visitor’s claw back:

South Africa can thank their bowlers for stopping the West Indians from reaching the three hundred run mark despite getting pummeled for most part of the day. Firstly Morkel broke the already flourished partnership of Bravo- Pollard by snapping the latter’s wicket. After some time, Morris chipped in with Bravo’s scalp. Rabada, Parnell and Imran Tahir and then combined together and were amazing in the last ten overs, giving just 54 runs off it to restrict the opposition for 279/9 after 50 overs.

4. Shannon Gabriel squeals the Proteas’ top order:

It was West Indies’s turn to reply with the ball. After experiencing early setback during their time with the bat, they came back with a similar bowling performance with the ball reducing the chasing side to 35/4. The target wasn’t the most challenging but fast bowler Shannon Gabriel made sure that the Proteas have a tough time in the middle.  Gabriel snapped a wicket each in the first three overs of his spell. Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers all fell victim to him. Hashim Amla also departed shortly after a brief stay. The South African scorecard read a bothersome 35/4 during the time of Amla’s departure.

5. Sunil Narine breaks his wicketless run as opposition gets wrapped up:

Sunil Narine, after a hot and cold IPL season, announced his arrival in the Caribbean with a six-wicket haul. But after that scintillating performance, he didn’t do anything noticeable. In fact, he had experienced a dry wicketless run in the past three games. But, Narine did not disappoint and returned with a superb 3/28 yesterday to help his team register a pretty easy win. He broke his dry run by snapping Hashim Amla’s wicket in the 12th over adding to South Africa’s misery created by Gabriel. Later in the evening, he added South Africa’s last hope of winning – all-rounders Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell – to his kitty to ensure the opposition isn’t able to script any turnaround.