How South Africa tour of West Indies unfolded
Both South Africa and West Indies had disastrous campaigns at the just concluded T20 World Cup. Thus the series between them just after the World Cup was significant enough for them to regain some of their lost confidence.
Starting 19th May 2011 South Africa and West Indies clashed in two T20 matches and five one-day internationals in the Caribbean islands itself.
Graeme Smith was receiving a lot of flak from all corners. Chris Gayle also had a lot to answer. Both captains were desperate for a series victory.
Caribbean bonanza starts with T20 clash
The series started with a T20 international at Antigua. Winning the toss the West Indies put the Proteas in to bat. South Africa could only manage 136 in 20 overs but even that proved to be too much for the West Indies. South Africa won the match by 13 runs.
The second T20 match turned out to be a much closer affair where South Africa finally managed to edge past West Indies by the narrowest possible margin of 1 run.
Amla magic leaves the Windies reeling
The series then moved to more serious cricket as the first one-day international got underway in Antigua on the 22nd of May. In this rain curtailed match batting first South Africa scored 280 runs. Yet again the West Indians failed in their efforts to chase and lost the match by 66 runs. Hashim Amla was declared the man of the match for his hundred.
The South African batting continued to show improvement as the series went on. In the second ODI on the South Africa set a target of 301 in front of the West Indies. Hashim Amla once again displayed his class with the bat as he scored 92. The West Indies also showed improvement from the last game but still fell 17 runs short as they were bundled out for 283 in 48.1 overs.
Injuries hit West Indies before the third ODI
Trailing 2-0 in the five match series, the West Indies were delivered yet another blow when Ramnaresh Sarwan, Nikita Miller and Kemar Roach were all ruled out of the next two games due to injuries.
The venue for the third ODI may have shifted to Dominica but the fortune of the West Indies still remained the same. Even though South Africa failed to put up a huge total in front of the West Indies to chase, the Caribbean team still faltered. Chasing a modest target of 225, the West Indies were bowled out for 157 in 38 overs. It was A B de Villers who walked away with the man of the match award this time for his hard fought 50.
South Africa had clinched the series 3-0 with two matches still to go.
The fight for pride for the Caribbean outfit
For the first time in the series the West Indies batted first in the fourth ODI. They used it to their full advantage and put up a comprehensive 304 in front of the Proteas to chase. But Hashim Amla once again took the match away from the clutches of the West Indies as his 129 set South Africa on course to victory. South Africa won the mach by seven wickets and deservedly Amla was adjusted as the man of the match.
As the last match got underway the West Indies were looking to salvage some pride and get a consolidation win. The South Africans on the other hand were hungry for a whitewash. The West Indies won the toss and decided to bat first. They set a target of 253 in front of the South Africans to chase. The match went down to the wire but South Africa managed to get the desired target with two balls remaining.
The series was over and South Africa had managed a clean sweep. Jacques Kallis won the man of the match award for his fifty and Hashim Amla was declared as the man of the series.
Captain Graeme Smith was once again reinstated as captain cool. Chris Gayle on the other hand did not lose heart even after losing seven matches on the trot, “I'm basically disappointed that we've lost so many games but, generally, everyone gets on well with each other. The one downside is to get that win, but we've worked extremely hard, preparation-wise. It's just unfortunate that we are not getting the results out there in the middle.”
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