Can Motie-vated WI make their own luck vs South Africa?

If West Indies prepare just as well for their next two Super Eights matches—and if their luck holds!—the 2026 T20 World Cup could well prove historic.

A West Indies win over either South Africa on Thursday or India next Monday could well mean, if the other pieces fall into place, semifinals without either of the co-hosts.

Both Sri Lanka and India have already been trounced in their Super Eights openers; that is the stuff of subcontinental nightmares.

Yesterday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the West Indies beat Zimbabwe out of sight, posting a massive 254 for 6. It was the second-highest T20 World Cup team score to win by a whopping 107 runs—that is the stuff of Caribbean dreams…

For all-formats coach Daren Sammy, the dream of capturing a third T20 World Cup title in 2026 unsurprisingly endured beyond the 40-match group stage. And with round one of phase two now done and dusted, that dream remains alive and well…

The Maroon Men continued to punch above their weight. Having won all four Group C games against Scotland, England, Nepal and Italy by convincing margins, they swept aside the surprise Group A winners.

Form horse Shimron Hetmyer, who contributed a pyrotechnic 84 off 34 balls, hit five of the West Indies’ 19 sixes in the game, taking the team’s tally in the tournament so far to 55.

The aggressive left-hander has been capitalizing on the new-found acreage outside the 30-yard circle that comes with batting at #3. He was, however, lucky to be put down twice, once on 9 and again on 70.

Important contributions also came from Rovman Powell (59 off 35 balls, 4×4, 4×6), Jason Holder (31 off 14, 2×6), Romario Shepherd (21 off 10, 3×6) and Sherfane Rutherford (31 off 13, 3×4, 2×6).

It’s hard to feel, though, that without Hetmyer’s half-century, his third in the tournament, that daunting 250-plus target would have been set.

But fortune also favoured WI in another way. South Africa and India are the only two other teams to progress with a perfect eight points. So drawing Zimbabwe in the first Super Eights round was also a big slice of luck.

It didn’t, however, extend into Sunday. Had India beaten the Proteas in their game, Thursday’s game would have been a must-win for the South Africans, amping up the pressure on them.

As things stand, WI will have to make their own luck to get past the Proteas, who beat them by nine and seven wickets in January.

In the group stage, only once did Aiden Markram’s men fail to get past 175, when their target was UAE’s paltry 122/6. In their four games, they clouted 31 sixes, adding ten against India on Sunday, when they fell 13 short of a second 200.

Truth is that the 15-member squad named to represent the 2012 and 2016 champions is without the services of ace pacer Alzarri Joseph, not yet fully recovered from a lower back injury. But in the group stage, it was their seamers who led the way—although it is often spin that makes the running on sub-continent pitches.

Holder, Shamar Joseph and Shepherd each had at least a four-fer and WC first-timer Matthew Forde returned a three-fer versus Italy, helping WI dismiss 38 of the 40 batsmen in their four matches.

But against Zimbabwe, though never used in tandem, the spinners stepped up their game.

Akeal Hosein was smashed for a six and a four in his first over, scalped two batsmen with beauties in his second, a maiden, and ended with impressive figures of 4-1-28-3.

Gudakesh Motie, whose previous best figures in the tournament were 3/33 vs England, matched his fellow left-arm orthodox spinner with 4-1-28-4.

Interestingly, the pair delivered 29 dot balls between them—the same number the WI faced in their innings.

Also absent from the Caribbean 15 were the three galácticos, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell, as well as prolific former captain Nicholas Pooran, all of whom declined to be a part of the odyssey.

Reports did not say whether an approach was also made to Christopher Henry “Universe Boss” Gayle—he of the record-spangled career who played his 79th and last game in West Indies colours back in November 2021.

Nevertheless, on the whole, the batsmen have now begun to find their mojo.

Brandon King has largely struggled after his initial 35 against Scotland as has Roston Chase. Rutherford in particular seems to have re-found the form—and the attitude!—that earned him a consistent place in the middle order.

We simply have not seen the recklessness spawned, I suggest, by the events of 3 April 2016 at Eden Gardens.

“On their day, they could beat anybody,” WI supporters like to affirm. That April evening, they need to be told, was “their day”. It has animated us through a decade of disappointment.

Clearly, though, the secret of consistent cricketing success is what you bring to the table precisely when it’s not your day.

So it was a pleasant change to hear Shai Hope, in a post-Italy media session, talk about planning and preparation.

The skipper sounded as if the Carlos “Remember-the-name” Brathwaite lesson has finally been learnt. His batsmen have finally accepted that there is no magic six-hitting formula that can guarantee success and save us.

“Clarity was one of the biggest things we focused on in our preparation,” Hope told the assembled media. “We’re trying to make sure we have a player fit for each role that we need to execute in the middle.

“[…] It is the biggest thing, especially in a tournament as big as this.”

Post-Zimbabwe, he took the time to positively stroke the all-important spinners. And demonstrating that he has an eye on tomorrow, despite his insistence on staying in the moment, he kept Shepherd, who missed three successive games with a “niggle”, out of the attack.

His attention to detail was also evident in the Group C game against England. When opener Phil Salt took a liking to Holder and 24 off his first over, Hope unsurprisingly pulled him out of the attack immediately.

Later, with the outcome not in doubt, acutely aware that the team will need a psychologically whole Holder down the road, he called the 6” 3’ up for a second over.

So Hope clearly has his head on. He and Sammy both know that, when opportunity knocks, you have to be ready to answer.

They have, I reckon, been poring over Avenash Seetaram’s performance data, putting in the necessary work, looking at left- and right-hand options, studying the dimensions of the Ahmedabad boundaries, dotting I’s and crossing T’s, refining the individual roles.

They get clearer every day. The big picture is already clear. And clarity, Hope makes clear, is what a winning team needs to keep winning.

Thursday’s encounter could determine whether this now highly energized, highly Motie-vated team will have a rude awakening next week…

… or a dream run to the 2026 final.

West Indies Super Eights schedule

Mon 23 Feb: vs Zimbabwe, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai –Won by 107 runs;

Thu 26 Feb: vs South Africa at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad;

Sun 1 Mar: vs India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata;

Wed 4 Mar: Semifinal 1, Kolkata or Colombo;

Thu 5 Mar: Semifinal 2, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai;

Sun 8 Mar: Final, Ahmedabad or Colombo.

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Earl Best

Earl Best taught cricket, French, football and Spanish at QRC for many years and has written consistently for the Tapia and the Trinidad and Tobago Review since the 1970’s.
He is also a former sports editor at the Trinidad Guardian and the Trinidad Express and is now a senior lecturer in Journalism at COSTAATT.