South Africa vs West Indies, 2nd T20I, West Indies tour of South Africa, 2026 - Commentary

That's it from this one. We will be there for the last game of the series on the 31st of this month. Do join us then. For now it's bye bye.

Aiden Markram | South African captain: Yeah, special to watch. Quinny does what Quinny does and puts on a great show for the crowd to watch and everyone watching at home. And that's what it's all about. And Ricks to slide under the radar, but more importantly, get us over the line and be there at the end in now twice back-to-back games is a really good effort from him as well. So, yeah, from a batting point of view, really happy and a great show from Quinton. (how close are you to finalising your batting order?) Yeah, I think we've got a pretty good idea of how it looks. Still missing a couple of guys that aren't here, but hopefully they get ready and can just pop straight back in. But happy with the options that we have. And yeah, I guess we've got a good idea of how the sort of top seven, top eight would look. (on his batting) Yeah, good. Pity to miss out tonight on a really good wicket. But yeah, Ricks and Quinny took care of it for us. And it was important to have a good first 10 overs when you're chasing a big target like that. And they played really well. But yeah, personally feeling good. I'm hoping to contribute more and more now moving forward. And hopefully the wave can last a good time. (on Maharaj) Yeah, huge. For him to bowl four overs for 20-odd on a wicket like that as a spinner, is a serious effort against their hitters. So he needs a lot of credit for that. That phase of the game goes a very long way. I think when you go chase a 240, 250 number, you almost need the perfect game. Whereas in that phase where Keshi bowled for us, sort of bought us a little bit of margin for error with the bat, I guess. So special from him. Very tough night for the bowlers for everyone. I mean you've got to feel sorry for them. But with that comes some nice lessons and some good stuff you can take moving forward. (on the last game) Yeah, hoping for a good wicket. And just to keep building on the stuff that we've done in the first two games, I think. Bowling and fielding point of view, there is a couple of percenters that we can get better by. And that's probably the exciting part for us. And yeah, when we board that flight to India to have really not left any stones unturned and go there with a good, confident mindset.

Shai Hope | West Indies captain: It's pretty decent. I think the way all the guys went up there and showed our intent from the start, something that we've been discussing, but clearly it was a little bit under par. We see how difficult it is to restrict guys on this surface, like here, on this ground. So I still feel the guys played really well. It's great to see Hetty back in the runs and Sherfane continuing his good form from the SA20. So good signs. Well, yeah. Like I always say, we've got to look at the positive, especially when you're going into a World Cup. That's what really and truly this series is. It's about building that momentum going into the World Cup, getting some tweaks, trying to finalise and fine-tune some areas. But yeah, I think the guys played very well in the powerplay. It's exactly what we're trying to get, out of the opening batters and the ones to follow. Just got to build from that and continue as strong as we can. Oh yeah, it's always tough bowling in these conditions here, especially when the ball flies like this at Centurion. With the execution there, you can see as long as we don't execute the way we want to, it's going to be difficult. And these guys are quality players, so you're always going to be under pressure. So the minute we don't execute the way we want, we're always going to find ourselves playing catch-up. Yeah, it changes them a bit. Obviously, we wanted Rossy to come in and kind of get rid of those two lefties, but it didn't happen today. That's how it goes in cricket. And it's great to see the way Akeal came in and showed his skill and class against both of those same left-handers. So we've still got that versatility with our bowling attack. It just needs a bit more penetrative and find ways to get wickets in the middle and put more pressure on their batting lineup. (on the last game) Yeah, just to keep fine-tuning. As much as we want to win, we obviously want to win every single game we play. We want to win the series, but it's more so about getting the right formula, understanding what is necessary to be successful in that World Cup. And just got to continue getting better as a team. Still fine-tuning, as I said, but just got to keep your spirits high and find ways to keep getting better and improving every single time.

Quinton de Kock | Player of the Match: Yeah, it was fun, I guess. Nice to get back out in the Proteas' colours again, back in Centurion. Yeah, I do. It was an old home ground for me, so I'm quite familiar with the wicket. I've also played a lot of international cricket here, so familiar with what the conditions felt, so pretty much used to it. (on the chat at the halfway stage) Honestly, there wasn't a chat. No, I mean, we've been in this position before on this ground, we know this wicket can produce high-scoring grounds, so it wasn't like we didn't say anything, we just padded up and just walked out to bat and we just carried on with the game. So yeah, it wasn't much to it, to be honest, it's just a matter of just knuckling down and just getting the job done. Yeah, obviously when chasing big totals, it's always important to get off to a good start, no matter how good the wicket is. So yeah, that's always a key role, but obviously after losing Aiden, Ricks came in and did the exact role he needed to do, batted really well also. (on Rickelton) Yeah, he batted really well, obviously he's getting used to number three now with the Proteas, so it's just nice for him to get out and bat, especially last game batted three, batted really well, and now to come do it again, which is really good. Hopefully it helps up his confidence going forward with our process, cos we need it at the World Cup. (on batting with someone else's bat) Yeah, I just made a mistake. I left some bats at home and I decided to just borrow one of young Brevi's bats. He did proceed to tell me before the game, it's going to be a good bat, I gave you a left-hander's bat. So whatever the hell that means. So yeah, it worked out well.

Least overs taken to chase down a 200-plus target in T20Is
15.2 - IND vs NZ, Guwahati, 2026
16 - PAK vs NZ, Auckland, 2025
16.1 - AUS vs WI, Basseterre, 2025
17.3 - SA vs WI, Centurion, 2026
17.4 - SA vs WI, Johannesburg, 2007
*full-member teams

150-plus stands for SA in T20Is (any wicket)
174* - Quinton de Kock & David Miller vs IND, Guwahati, 2022
170 - Graeme Smith & Loots Bosman vs ENG, Centurion, 2009
168 - Quinton de Kock & Rilee Rossouw vs BAN, Sydney, 2022
162 - Quinton de Kock & Ryan Rickelton vs WI, Centurion, 2026
157 - Reeza Hendricks & Rassie van der Dussen vs PAK, Centurion, 2024
152 - Quinton de Kock & Reeza Hendricks vs WI, Centurion, 2023

Multiple T20I hundreds at a venue (FM teams)
2 - Colin Munro, Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
2 - Quinton de Kock, SuperSport Park, Centurion

Most hundreds as designated wicketkeepers in Men’s T20s
8 - Quinton de Kock
5 - Ishan Kishan
5 - Kamran Akmal
4 - Sanju Samson

Multiple T20I hundreds for SA
2 - David Miller
2 - Rilee Rossouw
2 - Quinton de Kock

Most sixes in a T20I innings for SA
13 - Richard Levi vs NZ, Hamilton, 2012
10 - Reeza Hendricks vs PAK, Centurion, 2024
10 - Quinton de Kock vs WI, Centurion, 2026
9 - Loots Bosman vs ENG, Centurion, 2009
9 - David Miller vs BAN, Potchefstroom, 2017

Successful 200-plus run-chases for SA in T20Is
259 vs WI, Centurion, 2023
222 vs WI, Centurion, 2026
212 vs IND, Delhi, 2022
207 vs PAK, Centurion, 2024
206 vs WI, Johannesburg, 2007
200 vs IND, Dharamsala, 2015

-- Quinton de Kock scored hundreds in the top two, the first being the only successful 250-plus chase in T20I history.

21:29 Local Time, 19:29 GMT, 00:59 IST: Such an easy chase this. Celebrations in the South African camp. When de Kock is in that mood, then there are few better players in the world than the diminutive left-hander. He ran riot tonight and Rickelton played nicely too. The West Indies were poor in the field and their bowling was way too easy for de Kock. He raced to his 2nd T20I ton while Rickelton played second-fiddle. Great batting conditions here and at the Highveld the ball flies still 221 was made to look well short by the brilliance of de Kock and Rickelton. Stay tuned for the post-match stuff....