Lightning flashes and sixes lit up the sky at the Wanderers Stadium, Sandton, for the third and final T20 between South Africa and the West Indies on January 31, with the visitors just holding on to get a six-run consolation win via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) Method. 

There was a 75-minute delay to the start of the match because of lightning which occurred near the venue, with the game initially being reduced to 16 overs per side. Just six overs into the match, and with the West Indies surging at 66 for one, another stoppage for bad weather saw the game being reduced to a ten-over affair when the pair of Shimron Hetmyer and skipper Shai Hope went back to the middle. 

Both Hope and Hetmyer slammed 48, with the latter especially brutal on the home team’s attack as he finished unbeaten in an innings which contained six sixes. When Hope was dismissed by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (one for 38), he and the left-handed Hetmyer had put on 86 for the second wicket after the Men In Maroon lost opener Johnson Charles in the first over for a duck. 

Former captain Rovman Powell clouted left-arm pacer Kwena Maphaka (one for 12) for two sixes in a cameo of 13 before the youngster had the last say in the penultimate over. Hetmyer then finished the innings in style when he heaved Corbin Bosch into the on-side for six off the last ball of the innings to see the Windies close on 114 for three.  

That six proved vital in the end as the Proteas fell just one big hit short of the DLS-adjusted target of 125 – agonisingly closing their innings on 118 for six. Importantly, South Africa won the series 2-1. Still, coach Daren Sammy and his team might take solace from this win as they look towards their campaign at the 2026 International Cricket Council T20 World Cup, which bowls off on February 7 with a meeting with Scotland. 

At Wanderers, it was returning fast bowler Shamar Joseph (one for 23) who held his nerve at the death as he defended 16 in the last over after an excellent penultimate over by Jason Holder cost West Indies just 11 runs and earned them a wicket. Joseph bowled Jason Smith (26 off ten balls) with the fourth ball of the final over and persisted with a full length to contain Bosch to see the Windies home. 

Earlier, second-match centurion Quinton de Kock made 28 off 14, with Dewald Brevis (17 off ten), Ryan Rickelton (15 off seven), and George Linde (17 off nine) all chipping in with cameos as South Africa tried to keep up with a required rate of 12.5 runs per over. 

Drafted into the playing XI for this game, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie did his bit to stop South Africa’s acceleration as he picked up figures of three for 17 to land the key scalps of Brevis, de Kock, and Rickelton. When Smith Hit Akeal Hosein for three fours and a six in the eighth over, it appeared as though the Proteas were in the ascendancy with 27 needed of the last two overs. The pair of Holder and Joseph finished strong, though, as West Indies avoided a series sweep.  

Summarised Scores: 

West Indies – 114/3 from 10 overs (Shai Hope 48, Shimron Hetmyer 48 not out; Kwena Maphaka 1/12) vs SOUTH AFRICA – 118/6 from 10 overs (Quinton de Kock 28, Jason Smith 26; Gudakesh Motie 3/17, Shamar Joseph 1/23). West Indies won by six runs via DLS Method.