South Africa cruise to 8-wicket win over West Indies

Playing without opener Quinton de Kock, South Africa beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the ICC T20 World Cup on Tuesday and handed the defending champions their second straight loss in Group 1.

De Kock made himself unavailable after Cricket South Africa ordered all of its players to take a knee at the tournament in support of the Black Lives Matter movement an hour before the game.

The two-time champion West Indies, which was routed for only 55 in the first game by England, struggled before reaching 143-8 after being put in to bat.

Fast bowler Dwaine Pretrious, who bowled two of the last three overs, bagged 3-17, including the wicket of Chris Gayle off his first ball. The ageing Gayle scored only 12 before he was outdone by an off-cutter and edged a catch behind the wickets.

Evin Lewis looked to be the only threat to South Africa’s pace and spin by top-scoring with 56 off 35 balls before he fell to the left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj (2-24).

Reeza Hendicks (39) proved to be a solid replacement for de Kock before Aiden Markram (51 not out) and Rassie van der Dussen (43 not out) led South Africa to 144-2 with 10 balls to spare for its first win in the tournament.

South Africa lost its first match in Group 1 to Australia.