West Indies Vice-Captain Jermaine Blackwood says he is looking to score big runs in their upcoming two-match series away to Zimbabwe.
“I’m feeling pretty good at the moment. I’m hitting the ball very well in the nets,” the 31-year-old told members of the media in a press conference on Friday.
“The way I’m feeling now, I feel like my old self from a few years ago so, hopefully, I can go out there and out in some good performances for the team,” he added.
Blackwood is coming off a modest tour of Australia where he scored 63 runs in four innings at an average of just 15.75. In those four innings he recorded scores of 36, 24, three and zero.
Despite the poor returns, Blackwood noted that the failures were not due to tough luck rather than poor form.
“I never really had any difficulties. I just didn’t get the scores I wanted,” he said.
“In the first game, I thought I got a hard decision in the first innings with the LBW against Mitchell Starc and then, in the second innings, I thought I was unfortunate when the ball hit my bat then my thigh pad and lobbed up to Labuschagne. In the second game I didn’t really get a start,” he added.
Nevertheless, Blackwood views the two matches against Zimbabwe as an opportunity to score some much-needed runs ahead of the team’s three-match tour of South Africa starting on February 28.
“My goal is to score as much runs as possible. In the last three series, I haven’t scored any centuries so I’m looking forward to scoring at least one in this series and get the form going for the South Africa series coming up shortly,” he said.
As he mentioned, his last Test hundred came in March 2022 against England at the Kensington Oval.
Since then, he’s scored 237 runs in eight innings at an average of 29.62 with one half century, 63 against Bangladesh in Antigua in June 2022.
The first Test against Zimbabwe bowls off on February 4.
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Harpy Eagles pacer Ronsford Beaton reported for suspect action, suspended
Ronsford Beaton, the Guyana Harpy Eagles fast bowler, was reported for a suspect bowling action during the ongoing West Indies Championship four-day first-class competition.
Beaton’s action was cited by match officials during the fourth round match between Guyana Harpy Eagles and Jamaica Scorpions at the Guyana National Stadium.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed that the Opinion Report by the Independent Assessor at Loughborough University, has found Beaton’s bowling action to be illegal and, as such, he has been suspended from bowling with immediate effect.
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.
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