Reeza Hendricks’ 42 and Temba Bavuma’s 46 were the only worthy scores as the Proteas posted 166/7 in the second T20I against the Windies.

South Africa were sent in to bat for the second time in two games, and the situation looked very promising when Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock scored 69 runs in the Powerplay.

It seemed like they’d be on course to reach a colossal score, but it was an innings of two halves, as the strong pushback from the West Indies prevailed.

The hosts’ bowling improved over the course of the innings, as the lack of pace paid dividends on multiple occasions. Offspinner Kevin Sinclair set the tone with an economical spell, but the pick of the bowlers was the left-armer Obed McCoy.

Temba Bavuma top-scored for SA with a determined 46, but the middle-order batsmen around him were dismissed while attempting more aggressive strokeplay. David Miller came in at #4 today and struggled to get going, and Rassie van der Dussen was castled while trying a leg side slog.

All in all, credit must go to the Windies bowlers for their variations and dogged effort to curb the early damage. A potentially imposing score has now been restricted to a rather mediocre total. Given yesterday’s blitzkrieg from the Windies batsmen, they’re once again in the ascendancy at this stage.

SA 166/7 (Bavuma 46, R Hendricks 42 – McCoy 4-0-25-3)