South Africa won their first T20I series under head coach Shukri Conrad, chasing down 222 with astonishing ease in the second T20I against West Indies at SuperSport Park. Quinton de Kock, playing in his first T20I at home in almost three years, scored his second century in the format, and second in Centurion. He reached his hundred off 43 balls, and finished on 115 off 49 balls, with ten sixes and six fours. De Kock faced just eight dot balls including the one he was dismissed off.

The headlines will go to de Kock but there will be some plaudits for his second-wicket partner Ryan Rickelton. The pair put on 162 off 72 balls as Rickelton, in a new position at No. 3, reached his third T20I fifty, off 25 balls. He finished unbeaten on 77, his highest T20I score. South Africa won with 15 balls to spare, a sign of how conducive the surface was for run-scoring. It was, in fact, the fifth time a 200-plus T20I target had been chased down successfully at SuperSport Park.

De Kock had not played a home T20I in almost three years, since March 2023, and he could not have asked for a better return. In his 100th T20I innings (and 101st match), he left records crashing in his wake. His first boundary took him to 12,000 runs in all T20s, while his fourth six made him the leading South African run-scorer in T20s, surpassing Faf du Plessis.

Given recent history, West Indies will be wondering how much is enough, after they had a blistering start, with Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer powering them to 115 in the first ten overs, and Sherfane Rutherford providing a sensational finish. The five overs from the 12th to the 16th, however, brought West Indies just 27 runs for the loss of three wickets. This phase, in effect, cost West Indies the series.

Enter the final over from Keshav Maharaj, the 15th. With no boundaries in four overs, pressure was mounting, and Rovman Powell and Shimron Hetmyer both fell as West Indies lost three wickets for 12 runs. Rutherford took them over 220 but they needed a lot more.