South Africa completed the highest successful chase in T20Is, thanks to Quinton de Kock’s first T20I hundred off just 43 balls. The knock helped South Africa chase down West Indies’ mammoth total of 238 runs in a high-scoring match at SuperSport Park. Johnson Charles blasted his way to the joint second-fastest T20I century, hitting 11 sixes as West Indies posted their highest score in the format. However, it was not enough to stop South Africa from clinching the victory.
The match saw a total of 517 runs, the most in a T20 game, with 35 sixes, the most in a T20 international and two fewer than the most in any T20 match. It was a tough day for bowlers on both sides, who struggled to get their lengths right. Only Kagiso Rabada conceded at under ten runs an over, and there were poor disciplines on both sides, especially by West Indies, who bowled 10 wides and a no-ball compared to South Africa’s four wides.
Quinton De Kock and Reeza Hendricks shared 152 runs for the opening wickets. De Kock scored 100 from 44 balls while Hendricks slammed a 28-ball 68, and Aiden Markram contributed an unbeaten 38 as the Protes chased the mammoth total with seven balls spare.
In the first half of the match, Kyle Mayers and Johnson Charles got together for an exhibition of power-hitting that dismantled the home attack. West Indies were 62 for 1 after the powerplay and 137 for 1 after the first 10 overs, which was their fastest start in a T20I. The openers shared the third-highest stand for West Indies in T20I cricket, plundering 135 runs in 58 balls at a scoring rate of just under 14 runs an over.
Despite Mayers and Nicholas Pooran falling to Jansen, Charles continued the carnage and was 18 runs away from his century when he was bowled by a yorker that he seemed to have kept out but trickled onto his stumps. Charles scored 73 of his 118 runs on the leg side, including eight of his 11 sixes. However, his century was not enough to stop South Africa from completing the highest successful chase in T20Is.
The series decider will be played at the Wanderers on Tuesday.
Highest successful run-chases in T20Is (full members)
259/4 – South Africa vs West Indies, Centurion
245/5 – Australia vs New Zealand, Auckland, 2018
236/6 – West Indies vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2015
230/8 – England vs South Africa, Mumbai, 2016
226/5 – England vs South Africa, Centurion, 2020
Stats -via Cricbuzz
