Proteas drop final T20 match against West Windies but big-hitting Jason Smith shows his class

The West Indies beat the Proteas by six runs at the Wanderers in the third and final T20 match of their series on Saturday night, but the series was won 2-1 by the South Africans as both teams wrapped up their preparations for the imminent T20 World Cup.

More important than the result for the Proteas was the performance of individuals, with Jason Smith’s 26 off ten balls answering his critics. It was a frustrating night for the 34,000 mostly pink-clad fans packed into the Bullring. First, the 6 pm start was postponed because of the threat of lightning in the area, and the match overs were curtailed from 20 to 16. And then six overs into the game, the players were called off after the meteorologists warned that lightning was once more in the area.

At that point, the West Indies, who were put into bat by Aiden Markram, were going reasonably well at 66/1, with Shai Hope not out on 38 from 19 balls, and the ever-flourishing Shimron Hetmyer on 26 from 14. Early on, Lungi Ngidi struck when he had Johnson Charles caught by Jason Smith for nought. Sadly, the lightning warning struck again, and the players came off.

Hope added ten runs after the resumption before a slower delivery from Keshav Maharaj saw him mishit to the safe hands of Corbin Bosch. Not long after, the same fate struck Rovman Powell, who was caught on the boundary by Dewald Brevis off the bowling of Kwena Maphaka. The tourists had one over to go, and at 104/3, they needed some fireworks from Hetmyer and new batsman Romario Shepherd.

Bosch was entrusted with the last six balls of the truncated innings, and he was doing well until Hetmyer smashed his final ball square of leg into the grassy area where a bunch of kids’ private game was disrupted by the descending ball. Hetmyer finished on a well-struck 48 as his team finished on 114/3.

The Proteas were set an adjusted target of 125 off their ten overs. Quinton de Kock, fresh off his swashbuckling hundred at Centurion, waded into the West opening attack and in no time had 18 off five balls. He would be out for 28 when Gudakesh Motie tossed up an inviting delivery that the "big fish" failed to get under, and Rovman Powell took the catch at long-off.

De Kock’s opening partner, Aiden Markram, perished for just two when a cluster of fielders converged on his skied hit, with Hosein emerging with the ball safely in hand. There was a let-off for newcomer Dewald Brevis when he hit the ball impossibly high into the heavens, and the unfortunate Shepherd had the task of catching it, which he did not, with the ball bouncing out of his hopeful hands.

The South Africans needed 63 off 33 when Ryan Rickleton was caught on the boundary by Jason Holder for 15, off the bowling of Motie. Brevis was eliminated thanks to a brilliant relay catch on the boundary, where Holder, as he stumbled backward toward the rope, flicked the ball back into the field to the safe hands of Motie.

The task of rescuing the Proteas was in the hands of George Linde and Jason Smith. Smith pulled the second ball he faced to the mid-wicket boundary, and the next ball suffered the same fate. It was three in a row for Smith when he square-cut the next delivery. Smith was on a roll and lifted Hosein out of the park. Smith’s 20 off seven balls thrust the Proteas back into the contest, with 27 needed off 12 balls.

The task became stiffer when Linde was caught at point by Chase off Holder. There was a big cheer when Tristan Stubbs reached the crease, with his team needing 25 off 10. Stubbs hooked Holder over the square-leg fence, and his team would need 16 off the final over. Smith continued his boundary-clearing heroics to make it nine needed off three, but the next ball, he was castled by Shamar Joseph, leaving new batsman Bosch with an impossible challenge.