South Africa captain Aiden Markram led from the front with an unbeaten 86 as his side registered a commanding nine-wicket win over the West Indies in the first T20I of the three-match series at Boland Park on Tuesday.
Chasing a target of 173, South Africa cruised to victory with 13 balls to spare, sending out an early warning ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup. Markram’s classy knock came off just 47 deliveries and was anchored by a solid unbeaten second-wicket partnership of 93 with Ryan Rickelton, who chipped in with a fluent 40.
Earlier, the West Indies recovered from a shaky start thanks to Shimron Hetmyer’s brisk 48 off 32 balls. Batting at No. 6, Hetmyer added 74 runs with skipper Rovman Powell to lift the visitors to a competitive 173 for 7.
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Despite the late flourish, the total proved insufficient against a disciplined South African chase led by Markram’s authority at the crease.
The second T20I will be played in Pretoria on Thursday, with the series concluding on Saturday at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Both teams will then shift focus to the T20 World Cup, where the West Indies open their campaign against Scotland in Kolkata on February 7, while South Africa face Canada in Ahmedabad two days later.
