Spare a thought for Darren Sammy. The crowd look stunned. Sorrowful glares. Smith had flicked the throw. And apparently they practice that kind of throws. Smith had a horror time on the field today; he misfielded, he even dropped a catch but here he is with a direct hit that has won the game for South Africa.
The game was meandering towards nowhere when suddenly Sammy changed it with the innings of his lifetime. He nearly got West Indies home but they ran out of fuel in the end. The boy on the burning deck. He walks ever so slowly out of the park.
Hang on for the quotes from the post-match ceremony.
Gayle: It was a good effort. Credit must go to Sammy for giving us some hope. The middle period was our downfall. too many dot balls. The pressure increases. Game simulation and learn to rotate the strike. We might have a new squad for the third game. Sarwan and Nikita miler will be mostly out. Injuries. I think we can look at the positives from this game and take it to the next one. The middle period we need to work on."
Smith: "Few key chances were missed. Apart from our catching we controlled the game very well. Apart from Sammy's 20 odd balls, we were in control. Sammy played a great knock today. We closed the game down. We did what we had to do. The deck has been slow, we built good partnerships and manipulated the field well, especially in the middle period. We ran hard. Duminy has had a tough time. he has been working on few technical things in the background. I am sure he will get a chance somewhere in this series and he needs to take it."
Amla is the man of the match: "I was quiet fortunate that I played a bit of County cricket before I came here. You always have to develop your game in international cricket ( on working on his off-side field). "
That's it from us. Thanks for joining. Good bye and good luck.
NO Miller run out 0 (1m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
The injured Nikita Miller comes out. Pollard is the runner. one wicket left. One fit batsman. A runner. What's going to happen here?
R Rampaul run out 5 (19m 8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 62.50
Lots of advice coming in from the crowd.
Ali: "Sammy's not the prettiest but man does this guy have heart. "
Following a series of failed run-chases in the home series against South Africa, West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson has identified the role of a batting coach as critical to his team's fortunes
A stunning late assault from Darren Sammy couldn't prevent South Africa sealing a 17-run victory set-up by fifties from Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis in a high-scoring game at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium
While there is undeniable potential talent in the national squad, and one cannot rule out an improved performance in the second game, it seems more likely that South Africa will maintain the gulf in class between the two sides
