Rovman Powell rues poor batting as West Indies crash out – “Performance we want to forget”

Rovman Powell said that shoddy batting led to West Indies’ defeat to South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 clash. On Monday, the co-hosts failed to advance to the semi-final after losing to the Proteas by 3 wickets (DLS) in a rain-marred contest at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.

After being asked to bat first, all West Indies could manage was 135 for 8. Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers scored 52 and 35 respectively to give their team some sort of respectability.

Earlier, riding on an all-round bowling performance South Africa restricted West Indies to 135 for 8 before clinching a last-over win to reach the semifinal at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua on Monday.

In reply, South Africa suffered two early wickets at the hands of Andre Russell before rain stopped play. The target was revised to 123 in a 17-over chase. West Indies clawed back into the contest with a string of wickets but Marco Jansen led the act in a nervy finish, sealing the Proteas’ first semifinal berth in 10 years.

Earlier, South Africa captain Aiden Markram has won the toss and without any hesitation opted to bowl first against Rovman Powell’s West Indies.

Both the teams have made one changes from their last match. For South Africa, left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamis comes in for Ottneil Baartman, while for West Indies Kyle Mayers replaces Johnson Charles.

West Indies looked good after the powerplay but failed to sustain the momentum for a long in the latter half of the innings.

Roston Chase, who was dropped twice scored a feisty fifty but he never got any support from the other end. For South Africa, Tabraiz Shamsi (3/27) was the most successful bowler.

“Credit to the boys for fighting till the end. As a batting group, this is a performance we want to forget, we didn’t bat well in the middle overs. We lost wickets in clusters and that always breaks the back of the batting team,” Powell said in the post-match presentation ceremony.