South Africa handed defending champions West Indies their second loss of the Men's T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai.
Set 144, South Africa lost captain Temba Bavuma, run out, in the opening over. But Reeza Hendricks (39), who opened for Quinton de Kock, kept the scoreboard ticking. He and Rassie van der Dussen added 57 in 50 balls to set the tone before holing out Akeal Hosein to Shimron Hetmyer in the 10th over.
South Africa were 66/2 at the halfway mark. Aiden Markram (51* in 26 balls) then took charge, as van der Dussen (43* in 51) held up an end. They stitched an unbroken 83 in 54 balls to see off the target in the 19th over.
Hosein and Dwayne Bravo bowled accurately, conceding under seven an over, but their teammates failed to live up to the expectations. The total did not challenge South Africa on a slow but batting-friendly Dubai track.
Earlier, the South African bowlers restricted West Indies to 143/8 after asking them to bat. They picked up five wickets in the last three overs, of which three went to Dwaine Pretorius (3-17). Evin Lewis top-scored with a 35-ball 56, which includes six sixes and three fours.
Had Lendl Simmons not wasted 35 balls for his bizarre 16, West Indies might have gone past 170. Chris Gayle (12) and Kieron Pollard (26) threatened to up the scoring, but both were undone by Pretorius. Keshav Maharaj and Anrich Nortje as impressive as Pretorius, while Tabraiz Shamsi had a rare off day, returning 0-37 in three overs.
Brief scores: West Indies 143/8 in 20 overs (Evin Lewis 56; Dwaine Pretorius 3-17) lost to South Africa 144/2 in 18.2 overs (Aiden Markram 51*; Akeal Hosein 1-27) by 8 wickets with 10 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Anrich Nortje.