South Africa collapsed from a winning position to lose by 30 runs to West Indies in their T20 international on Sunday, with the Caribbean side taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. West Indies made 179 for six but the South Africans were well on their way to victory, reaching 129 for 3 with more than six overs remaining. The Proteas then proceeded to lose their last seven wickets for just 20 runs in 35 balls, finally ending up bowled out for 149.

Reeza Hendricks made 44 off 18 balls in a positive start to the run chase, but it was a day to remember for West Indies’ seamers at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy Stadium.

Romario Shepherd took 3-15 from his four overs, claiming the key wickets of Hendricks and skipper Aiden Markram (19).

Fellow pacer Shamar Joseph took 3-31 as he did the damage to the lower order.

Shai Hope had set the home side on their way to a good total with his 41 from 22 balls while skipper Rovman Powell‘s 35 and Sherfane Rutherford‘s 29 saw them through the final overs.

Powell was pleased with the way his team had turned the game around after the strong start from the tourists.

“We put the pressure after the powerplay. Wickets would bring us back in the game. T20 cricket can change very fast,” he said.

Markram said his experimental and youthful team would learn from the loss and seek to put it right in Tuesday’s final game.

“It’s tough to put a finger on the learnings right now but one thing guaranteed with us is a never-say-die attitude,” he said.

England cricket team batter Phil Salt continued his tremendous run of form as he slammed West Indies bowler Romario Shepherd for 30 runs in an over to guide his side to victory in their T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 match on Thursday. Chasing a target of 181, Salt provided the perfect start to the innings for England his unbeaten 87 proved to be deciding factor in the encounter. During the 16th over of the match, Salt, who played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, produced a display of sublime batting as he slammed Shepherd for 3 fours and 3 sixes to score 30 runs in just 6 balls.

Salt started the over with a boundary through extra cover to bring up his half-century and followed it up with a six straight down the ground. The next ball was a slower one but Salt read it early and slammed it for a four. The pressure was too much for Shepherd as he could not maintain his line and length.

Phil’s Asu! 

Back-to-back sixes from #PhilSalt ensured the defending champions cruised smoothly in this run chase!

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A wide delivery outside the off-stump went for six over long-off while the fifth delivery of the over was once again a six as he sailed over backward square leg. The final ball of the over turned out to be a juicy full-toss and Salt needed no further invitation to slam it over the wide mid-off fielder for another four.

England went on to win the match by 2 wickets. After the match, England cricket team skipper Jos Buttler was all praise for Salt and his destructive batting in such an important match.

“That’s a really good performance from us, we executed well with both bat and ball. I thought we bowled really well to restrict such a powerful batting line-up, still we had to chase it down. but smart play from us. The partnership between Salt and Bairstow was great. I brought Jof back there, Pooran and Russell coming in, two of the best batters in the world, so we brought our best bowler back in. (On Adil Rashid) He’s a really important player, he has got so many variations and restricts runs. He batted at No. 4 today, he is a class player and we have decided to keep backing our class players. It was an incredible innings, a mature senior player’s innings, he batted with a lot of power. A lot of people say you learn when you lose but I also feel you learn when you win, important to reflect on our performance and look back what worked for us and focus on the next game,” Buttler said at the post-match presentation.