Johan Botha collects himself after he was floored by Fidel Edwards, South Africa v West Indies, 1st Twenty20, Port Elizabeth on Sunday.

PORT ELIZABETH—Stand-in West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo is thrilled over his team’s execution of their game-plan Sunday that led to a vital win over South Africa in the first Twenty20 International.

West Indies ripped out the heart of the home team’s batting and although the Caribbean side stuttered in their run-chase for victory, the eventual five-wicket margin in the rain-reduced game was comfortable.

Bravo, deputising for the injured regular captain Chris Gayle, said their aim to apply early pressure paid off.

“There were sometimes when things got tight but at no time did we feel under pressure. The pressure was on them (South Africa) and they fell apart,” Bravo said.

“At the end of the day a win is a win and we will take them as they come,” added Bravo.

Playing before a colourful and vocal crowd of 13,000 at the Sahara Oval, the Windies put in an awesome display to defeat the Proteas with more than three overs to spare.

“This is what we came here to South Africa for, to show that we have the ability to play and that we are here to fight for West Indies cricket,” Bravo said.

“As we keep saying, we are not just here to play, we are here to compete and we will give 100 percent on every occasion,” said Bravo.

West Indies are anxious to reverse an unsuccessful record in South Africa. On their last tour here, they lost the Test series 0-3 and the ODI series 1-3.

The star of the night was fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who a triple-wicket maiden in his first over to win the Man of the Match award.

Speaking after receiving his prize, the in-form 23-year-old thanked his teammates for their support and noted that there was a “positive vibe” in the camp.

“It was a brilliant effort by everyone out there tonight. We could not have asked for more. The plan was to come at them hard and get into the batting from early. It worked and everyone deserves credit,” said Taylor, who was also Man of the Series in the recent trip to Zimbabwe.

After rain reduced the match to just 13 overs per side, Taylor’s opening burst plunged South Africa into deep trouble at an appalling 10 runs for five wickets in the fourth over.

South Africa eventually struggled to 58 for eight off their 13 overs and West Indies replied with 60 for five in 9.5 overs.

“We knew that as long as we went out (after rain) we had to put on our thinking caps and be ready to fire,” said Taylor, who finished the marvellous figures of three for six off three overs.

Daren Powell (1-6), Darren Sammy (1-9) and Fidel Edwards (1-14) and run-outs by Bravo and Runako Morton set up the West Indies victory.

Morton (20), Ramdin (12 not out), Brenton Parchment (10), and Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s steadiness when the Windies had slipped to 41 for five in the sixth over, secured the West Indies win in the first game and an unbeatable lead in the two-match series. The second Twenty20 International will be played on January 18 in Johannesburg.

The West Indies returned to East London early Monday morning to prepare for a four-day match against South Africa A, which starts at Buffalo Park on Wednesday.

West Indies and South Africa start their three-Test series on Boxing Day (December 26) at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth with the home side heavy favourites to win.

The last West Indies series triumph was in June 2004 when they defeated Bangladesh in the Caribbean. (CMC)