Bravo, bowlers inspire West Indies to final
Darren Bravo's third ODI century and Shannon Gabriel's three-wicket haul set up West Indies' 100 run-win over South Africa, which secured their spot in the final against Australia on Sunday
Darren Bravo's third ODI century and Shannon Gabriel's three-wicket haul set up West Indies' 100 run-win over South Africa, which secured their spot in the final against Australia on Sunday
Commentator: Shashank Kishore
Thanks for joining us, folks. We'll see you for the grand finale on Sunday. Cheers!
9.10pm Script writer's dream then. It has taken the last league game to determine the second finalist. You had to be brave to predict West Indies would win this by 100 runs when they were reduced to 21 for 4 in five overs after being sent in to bat on a lively surface. Kagiso Rabada breathed fire, but the counter-attacking record fifth-wicket stand between centurion Darren Bravo and Kieron Pollard set things up for the bowlers. In the chase, Jason Holder, mindful of a hamstring niggle, bowled out, but it was Shannon Gabriel and Sunil Narine, slowly returning to his best, who thwarted South Africa's designs. They needed AB-Faf-Duminy to make bulk of the contribution along with a quick start from Quinton de Kock. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be. West Indies were thoroughly professional and deserve a berth in the final, although there is scope to argue that they conceded bonus points in the games they lost.
Jason Holder: I wanted to get onto the park for this game, because it was important for West Indies cricket. Credit must go to the way Darren played. It was an outstanding innings. Shannon too was outstanding. We asked him to come in and give energy. He's an impact bowler for us. Australia is No. 1 for a reason, we just have to play a good game and follow our processes. I'm a bit sore, we've got a few niggles around in the camp, but have a day to recuperate and come back for Sunday.
Darren Bravo is the Player of the Match for his third ODI ton , an enterprising 103-ball 102 comprising 12 fours and four sixes. "I was getting starts, but wasn't able to convert. I was very disappointed, but was batting well in the nets, and that gave me the confidence. I went out with a positive mindset, and my partnership with Kieron Pollard was tremendous. Rabada was bowling fast, I think he's one of the fastest I've played against. It's great to beat a team that's ranked higher than us. We're playing the best team in the world in the final, hopefully we can give a good account of ourselves.
AB de Villiers: We had a couple of opportunities to run through them, and that is where we stumbled first. We could have picked up two wickets when we reduced them to 21 for four. Our general attitude wasn't top notch throughout the day despite that start. Darren Bravo played a fantastic knock, you have to give him credit. I did change the bowlers as much as I could, but it didn't happen for us. We were never really 100 percent, yet found ways to win and be alive until the last game.
Imran Tahir c †Ramdin b Brathwaite 29 (24b 7x4 0x6) SR: 120.83
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