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• 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.

   

• "It allowed me to do some soul-searching"- Charles sees focusing on the basics as key to T20I re-emergence after six-year hiatus

  South Africa and the West Indies played one of the most amazing games of cricket you will ever see at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Sunday.

  In the second of three T20Is, the two teams combined for a record 517 runs including 81 boundaries and 35 sixes as the hosts needed just 18.5 overs to chase down a mammoth 258 set by the West Indies.

  The catalyst behind the West Indies’ massive total was an innings from top-order batsman Johnson Charles that can only be described as special.

  The 34-year-old right-hander, batting at number three, eclipsed Chris Gayle’s record for fastest T20I hundred for the West Indies, 47 balls against England at the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup, when he brought up his maiden T20I century off just 39 balls.

  Charles eventually made 118 off 46 balls including 10 fours and 11 sixes. He said the key to his innings was understanding the conditions.

  “You know as a batsman, with such a good pitch and such a small ground, that you don’t have to over-hit the ball. I think that was one of the key points that all the batsmen had in the back of their minds,” he said in a press conference after the game.

  This continues a remarkable career resurgence for the St. Lucian, who was a member of the victorious West Indian sides at the 2012 and 2016 ICC T20 World Cups.

  After representing the regional side in a three-match T20I series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2016, Charles was dropped, with many writing him off completely.

  “I think being out of the T20 side for six years definitely allowed me to do some soul searching and see where I’ve been going wrong,” Charles said.

  After six years on the outside looking in, Charles finally got a second chance to don the West Indian colors when he was, surprisingly to many, selected for the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia after an excellent 2022 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) which saw him finish as the third-highest run-scorer with 345 runs in nine innings, including four fifties.

  Charles played two games at the World Cup and recorded scores of 45 and 22 against Zimbabwe and Ireland, respectively.

  Earlier this year, he played an integral role in leading the Comilla Victorians to their fourth Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) title, making 308 runs in nine innings, including a century and a fifty.

  “I’ve gone back to the basics,” was Charles’ response to questions about how he has revived his batting.

  “I made sure I have those down pat. Just coming back, it’s worked for me and, going forward, I’m just going to have to make sure that I keep focusing on the basics. If I continue doing that then I’ll keep on having great innings,” Charles added.

  Hopefully, Charles can continue this form when the West indies take on the South Africans in the decisive third T20I at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday.