Markram (86*), Linde (3-25) give South Africa commanding 1-0 start to series

Jan 28, 2026 Sports

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2026 West Indies tour of South Africa T201 Series Game 1

– Windies lose by 9 wickets despite Hetmyer cameo

 By Clifton Ross

Kaieteur Sports – A classy unbeaten half-century from South Africa Captain Aiden Markram, complemented by some magic from spinner George Linde, gave the host 1-0 start to the 3 match series after mauling the Windies by 9 wickets at Boland Park.

The men in maroon bowled off their final assignment before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup gets underway in a few days time, looking to regain some momentum after a tough 2-1 series loss at the hands of Afghanistan.

Hosts South Africa were on point although needing 172 for a win, they seemingly raced to 176-1 in just 17.5 overs.

Markram stroked his 11th T20I half-century, an elegant 86 not out from 47 deliveries which featured fours and sixes, his best score versus the Caribbean side in this format.

The captain shared an important 83-run stand alongside 19 year-old opener Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who kept the pressure off his skipper with a busy 28-ball 44 (6×4 1×6).

Wicket-keeper Ryan Rickelton played an excellent innings after Pretorius departed, scoring 40* off 32 with a four and two sixes but more importantly shared an unbroken 93* run partnership alongside his captain; which essentially paved the way for a comfortable win.

West Indies bowlers toiled with stand-in captain Roston Chase (1-31) the only bowler to find success.

Sent into bat first, West Indies paced their innings nicely by the time the 20 overs ended, posting 173-7 thanks to a number of contributions from a few key players.

Top-scorer, Guyanese Shimron Hetmyer led the crew with a robust knock of 48, sharing a steady 75-run partnership for the 6th wicket with former T20 captain Rovman Powell (29*).

South Africa slow left-arm spinner and Man-of-the-match George Linde was the star, snatching 3-25 with help from right-arm pacer Corbin Bosch (2-35), who kept the speed gun ticking during his spell and veteran left-arm orthodox, Keshav Maharaj (2-44).

Markram and Pretorius, had a brisk start to the chase reaching their opening 50-run partnership in 4.3 overs with a 6 to help give the Proteas a commanding start.

A drop catch by Akeal Hosein gave another life to the South African skipper on 27, but Chase made amends a few overs later by removing Pretorius and breaking the partnership before it could swell to triple digits.

Compared to the Windies who were 88-4 after 10 overs, South Africa on 95-1, took their required runs for victory to 79 by the halfway mark with the skipper easing himself to a solid half-century off a mere 28 balls.

Needing 30 off the last six overs, Rickelton and Markram brought up the team’s second half-century partnership, which resulted in the South Africans getting to their target by virtue of a six and a four off the bat of their captain.

Earlier, after a watchful start batting first in the power-play, coupled with the loss of 4 of their batsmen including power-hitter Sherfane Rutheford (6), Hetmyer came to the crease playing with the same confidence and aggression as he did versus Afghanistan.

The left-hander smashed 3 sixes and 4 fours, while a more tempered Powell saw the innings through with a pair of fours and a maximum under his belt.

Windies openers Brandon King (27) and Johnson Charles (13) alongside fast-bowling all-rounder Matthew Forde (17) who was strangely promoted to 3 ahead of a number of other pure strikers; were all dismissed by the time the Windies got to 50 in the 6th over.

After Chase departed for a scratchy 22 (2×4), Hetmyer and Powell dropped anchor which helped to keep the train on course.

The duo eventually cut loose after seeing out a few overs, taking full advantage of the bad deliveries while maintaining a good run-rate, as they kept the singles and two’s going by the time the 100 came up in the 12th over.

West Indies then sought to finish the innings in a flurry after reaching the crucial 150-mark, with the last power-play remaining.

But a brilliant throw-back catch over the boundary by Brevis left not only the crowd stunned, but Hetmyer who perished just two shy of a half-century; leaving Powell to see the remaining overs out quietly.

The second T20I bowls off on Thursday from 12:00pm (mid-day).

Scores: South Africa 176 for 1 (Markram 86*, Pretorius 44) beat West Indies 173 for 7 (Hetmyer 48, Powell 29, Linde 3-25, Bosch 2-35) by nine wickets.

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• Hetmyer, Linde, Markram, South Africa, West Indies

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