Romario Shepherd and Alzarri Joseph guided the West Indies to a series-clinching seven-run win against South Africa in the third Twenty20 international at the Wanderers Stadium on Tuesday.

Shepherd smashed 44 not out off 22 balls to propel the West Indies from 161 for eight to 220 for eight. He and Joseph, who scored 14 not out, shared an unbeaten ninth wicket stand of 59 off 26 balls.

Then, fast bowler Joseph took five for 40 to limit South Africa to 213 for six.

New West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell reported that the players responded to his request “You must be both fearless and natural, but you must also be intelligent. In this series, the men were exemplary.”

Joseph, who was absent from the second match in Centurion when South Africa set a world record run chase of 259, struck crucial blows by dismissing T20 stars Quinton de Kock (21) and David Miller (11).

Joseph effectively ended the match in the penultimate over when he dismissed top scorer Reeza Hendricks for 83 and then Heinrich Klaasen and Wayne Parnell in quick succession.

“We made a total and it was up to the bowlers to defend it,” said Joseph, who was named player of the match.

“I thrive on the opportunity to make an impact.”

Shepherd and Joseph scored 17 off Wayne Parnell and 26 off Kagiso Rabada in the final two overs of the West Indian innings, thereby changing the outcome of the game.

“We would have liked to wrap up the last two wickets but bar the last two or three overs we were really good with the ball,” said South Africa captain Aiden Markram.

Brief scores:

West Indies 220-8 in 20 overs (B. King 36, N. Pooran 41, R. Shepherd 44 not out; L. Ngidi 2-45, K. Rabada 2-50, A. Nortje 2-36).

South Africa 213-6 in 20 overs (R. Hendricks 83, R. Rossouw 42, A. Markram 35 not out; A. Joseph 5-40).

Photo by Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix