Evin Lewis smashed a 35-ball 71 to guide West Indies beat South Africa by eight wickets in the 1st T20I at Grenada. Kieron Pollard’s men have taken a 1-0 lead in the five-match series with the win.
Earlier, Quinton de Kock (37 off 24) had provided South Africa a decent start after Temba Bavuma lost the toss in his first match as T20I captain. Bavuma (22 off 20) and Rassie van der Dussen (56* off 38) shared a 34-run stand for the third wicket before the former fell to Fabian Allen, who returned his career-best 2-18.
Heinrich Klaasen (7) and David Miller (9) departed cheaply, while George Linde got a golden duck. Despite wickets falling in regular intervals from the other end, van der Dussen was unmoved and finished on an unbeaten 56 to take South Africa to 160/6.
Dwayne Bravo (2-30) claimed two wickets on his return to international cricket, while Jason Holder (1-29) and Andre Russell (1-29) got one each.
Coming to chase, Lewis got off the mark with a six off Linde. By hitting Kagiso Rabada over mid wicket, Lewis then became the second quickest (35 innings) West Indies batter to get to 1,000 runs in T20Is. Chris Gayle, the quickest, reached the feat in 34 innings.
Alongside Andre Fletcher (30 off 19), Lewis forged an 85-run opening stand in just 42 balls before Lungi Ngidi ran Fletcher out. By the time Lewis fell to Tabraiz Shamsi (1-27) in the 12th over, there was little contest left in the match. West Indies were 124/2 at this point.
With five overs remaining, Gayle (32* off 24) and Russell (23* off 12) reached the target with eight wickets in hand. This is the second time West Indies chased down a total of 160 or more in T20Is. The last came against India back in 2017.
Brief Scores
South Africa 160/6 in 20 overs (Rassie van der Dussen 56*; Fabian Allen 2-18) lost to West Indies 161/2 in 15 overs (Evin Lewis 71; Tabraiz Shamsi 1-27) by 8 wickets with 30 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Evin Lewis.