QDK, Rickelton blow away Hetmyer’s WI as South Africa pull off big chase in 1st T20I

Quinton de Kock muscled a match-winning century vs WI [Source: @ProteasMenCSA/x]

South Africa blew away West Indies in a high-scoring bout in Centurion to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series. Warming up before the 2026 T20 World Cup, vintage Proteas opener Quinton de Kock muscled an electrifying century to make lightwork of a formidable West Indies total.

Here, we take a look at the entire highlights from the first T20I of the three-match series between South Africa and West Indies, as it panned out at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday, January 29.

Shimron Hetmyer lays out the foundation

Batting first, West Indies lost captain and senior opener Shai Hope for just four in the second over of the match. The cricketer nicked one towards South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock off Marco Jansen. Brandon King and number three Shimron Hetmyer led West Indies’ counterattacking recovery by sharing a blistering 126-run partnership from just 62 balls.

King smeared five fours and three huge sixes to slap 49 off 30 balls before chipping one towards long-on off Kagiso Rabada. Hetmyer raged on to club an explosive 75 off 42 balls with eight fours and three maximums to top-score in the innings.

While ace spinner Keshav Maharaj tilted the tide back in South Africa’s favour with two big wickets in quick succession, including that of Hetmyer, West Indies still ended up extracting 76 runs off their final 30 balls.

Sherfane Rutherford storm West Indies to 221

Sherfane Rutherford orchestrated West Indies’ slog-overs fury with his burgeoning knock of 57* from 24 balls. Romario Shepherd also chipped in with a 10-ball 17* in the partnership as West Indies charted a formidable 221-4 in 20 overs.

For South Africa, new ball pacemen Kagiso Rabada (1-35) and Marco Jansen (1-39) picked up a wicket each in their respective four overs. Keshav Maharaj, on the other hand, conceded just 22 off his four overs at an impressive economy rate of 5.50 to claim figures of 2-22.

Anrich Nortje took a heavy beating in the evening by conceding 59 runs in just his three overs.

Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton show engulfs West Indies

South African captain Aiden Markram started off the chase with a swift 15-run cameo at the top before finding Shimron Hetmyer at deep midwicket off West Indies fast bowler Matthew Forde. Jolted early at 27-1 in a chase of 222, vintage opener Quinton de Kock and number three Ryan Rickelton went slam-bang from the outset in their second-wicket partnership that yielded 162 runs for the hosts in just 71 balls.

Quinton de Kock himself faced 49 deliveries in the innings, and dispatched six of them for boundaries and 10 others for sixes to tonk his second T20I century. The cricketer scored a match-defining 115 from just 49 balls before finally miscuing one off Akeal Hosein.

The West Indies spinner also dismissed a struggling Dewald Brevis at the brink of the finishing line to claim figures of 2-41. Ryan Rickelton concluded his run-chase masterclass at 77* off 36 balls as South Africa stormed past the West Indies in just 17.3 overs with seven wickets to spare.