Related items

• After 2-0 victory over Aruba in Concacaf Nations League Sugar Boyz looking forward to next challenge

  Having secured a spot in the CONCACAF Gold Cup preliminary round to be played in Miami later this year, St Kitts and Nevis national senior team, the Sugar Boyz are eagerly anticipating what comes next.

  They earned their place in the preliminary round courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Aruba on Monday at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium in Concacaf Nations League action. Keithroy Freeman scored both goals for the Sugar Boyz to seal victory.

  Though happy with the victory, Coach Austin Dico Huggins, believed the team should have scored more goals. “The opportunity was there for us to get more but that’s the nature of the game. We managed to get two goals and we are successful so we move on to the next leg in Miami, which will be in June. We have more time to prepare ourselves much better,” he said.

   Now just one step away from making history - qualification to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, should they win their Miami – Coach Huggins expressed confidence in his team’s ability to get the job done.

  “We are confident and we are looking forward to the opportunity to go out and display our talent and to let people know what St. Kitts (and Nevis) has and we can once more compete with the big boys,” Huggins said.

  Meanwhile, Aruba’s coach Marvic Bermudez, said they were unable to nullify the long ball threat from St. Kitts and Nevis.  “We saw the other teams in Group C and I told the guys the most difficult team in Group C is St. Kitts (and Nevis),” he said. “I told the guys we have a strong opponent so we have to be really prepared and I was right. St. Kitts is a real(ly) good team,” he said.

   A draw will be held on April 14 to determine the Sugar Boyz’s opponents for the preliminary round of the Concacaf Gold Cup.

• South Africa fall short of another big run chase as Windies take series

  West Indies avoided a repeat of their remarkable, record-breaking defeat in the second T20I against South Africa by clinging on to win the series decider by seven runs.

  The Windies had been on the wrong end of a historic run chase in the sides' previous encounter, the highest scoring Twenty20 match since the format was introduced.

  But there would be no repeat in Johannesburg on Tuesday, even if Reeza Hendricks again made life difficult for the tourists after another strong Windies score of 220-8.

  Hendricks was credited by centurion Quinton de Kock with inspiring the Proteas fightback in the second match, having contributed 68 off just 28 balls.

  Missing De Kock's support, it was a one-man effort this time as Hendricks scored 83 off 43, not quite enough with South Africa falling short on 213-6.

  West Indies had posted the second-highest T20I total not to include a single fifty but were also themselves grateful for the work of one batter in particular.

  In a blockbuster conclusion to the first innings, Romario Shepherd had scored 26 from the final over to top-score with 44 from only 22 balls – the knock that ultimately proved the difference.

  Phenomenal finish sees Windies safe

  South Africa handed the ball to Kagiso Rabada with some confidence ahead of the 20th over, with the bowling superstar having restricted the Windies to 2-24 from his previous three overs.

  Yet Shepherd, twice put down by De Kock, smashed Rabada all around the ground to set a daunting target. As a result, the Proteas needed to match Shepherd with 26 off the last but could only manage 18.

  Repeat proves beyond Proteas

  While Hendricks remained in the middle, it appeared very possible South Africa would pull off another stunning recovery. It would have been a record-breaking fifth successful 200-run chase in the format.

  However, West Indies kept their nerve, crucially having Hendricks caught by captain Rovman Powell at long on in the 19th over. The Windies still have not lost a T20I series in South Africa, with two wins and a draw.

• Powell saves 5-year-old ball-boy from injury by avoiding boundary collision during second South Africa T20I

  West Indies captain Rovman Powell got injured while trying to save a 5-year-old ball boy at the edge of the boundary area during the second T20 International against South Africa on Sunday, March 26.

  Powell, while chasing a ball towards the boundary, avoided a potentially catastrophic collision and chose to get hurt himself.

  The incident occurred in the third over of the South Africa chase when Quinton de Kock hit the ball towards the long off boundary.

  Powell gave chase and was inside the dive length to pull the ball back into the field before it touched the boundary. The West Indies captain, however, saw a five-year-old ball boy trying to get to the edge of line and catch the ball and decided to abort the chase in the last minute.

  The West Indies captain then jumped over the boy and the boundary line and crashed into the LED boards, before toppling over.

  Visibly shaken from the incident, Powell had to be treated at the side-line and took a decent amount of time to get back into the field.

  As for the game, South Africa won by six wickets after pulling off a record chase. The West Indies posted 258-5 off their 20 overs and the South Africans needed only 18.5 overs to reach 259-4.

  The third T20I takes place at Wanderers in Johannesburg on Tuesday.