West Indies cricket team interim captain, Brandon King, says the victory against South Africa on Thursday is seen as a positive step towards playing good cricket in preparation for the ICC’s Men’s Twenty20 (T20) World Cup.

The West Indies defeated South Africa by 28 runs at the famous Sabina Park to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match international series.

King, who is filling in for regular Captain Rovman Powell, top-scored with an impressive man-of-the-match 79 runs off 45 balls, helping the West Indies to post a total of 175-8 from their allotted 20 overs.

In response, South Africa was bowled out for 147 off 19 overs and five balls, with Reeza Hendricks being the top scorer, with 87 runs off 51 balls. Gudakesh Motie was the standout bowler for the West Indies, taking three wickets for 25 runs from his four overs, while Matthew Forde also took three wickets from two overs and five deliveries that cost 27 runs, and Obed McCoy contributed with two wickets for 15 runs from three overs to the see the team to victory.

The win is a positive step for the West Indies, who are aiming to win their third T20 World Cup title and become the first team to do so on home soil, as they will co-host the tournament with the United States next month.

However, there are still areas for improvement, which the team will look to address in the remaining two matches on Saturday and Sunday at Sabina Park.

“It’s important, obviously for other reasons other than just playing well, but it’s important to win these games as well. We’re leading up to a World Cup, so we want to be playing good cricket going into that. We got the win today and so we’re very happy with that, and I think all around we played well,” King said.

King said that the strategy of taking advantage of the new ball and the conditions was central in his and the team’s success in scoring effectively early in the game.

“I think obviously I have the advantage of knowing the conditions very well and I know that it’s easiest to batter when there’s the new ball. So you have to try and get a really good start because as the ball gets older it gets more difficult to score. I think we saw that in both innings. So that was my plan going out there, and I executed well.

“I think at the midway point, after 10 overs, we could have gotten maybe 200, 220 [runs] because we had wickets in hand. But obviously, as I said, it’s a difficult pitch to bat on when the ball gets older, so we still end up getting a competitive total on this wicket,” King said.

The West Indies had a strong start to their innings, with opener King and Johnson Charles putting on 36 runs for the first wicket. However, Charles was dismissed for just one run off five balls in the fourth over. King then found a new partner in Kyle Mayers and the two of them added 81 runs for the second wicket. King played an aggressive innings, hitting six sixes and six boundaries and reached a well-deserved half-century before being dismissed in the 11th over.

The West Indies continued to build momentum as Mayers and Roston Chase took the score to 134-3. Mayers contributed 34 runs, including a six and three boundaries, before being dismissed in the 13th over. Chase remained unbeaten on 32 runs, hitting two sixes and a four.

However, the rest of the batsmen struggled, with Andre Fletcher, Fabian Allen, Akeal Hosein, Matthew Forde, and Gudakesh Motie all being dismissed for single-digit scores. Shamar Joseph was the only other unbeaten batsman, ending on a duck. Despite this, the West Indies had set a competitive total.

South Africa struggled to chase down the West Indies’ total, losing two early wickets (Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton) to Forde and Chase, leaving them at 2-11. Hendricks and Matthew Breetzke attempted to revive the innings, putting on 24 runs for the third wicket, but Breetzke was dismissed for 19.

Captain Rassive van de Dussen joined Hendricks and they added 42 runs, briefly stabilising the innings. However, when van de Dussen was dismissed by Motie, the South African collapse continued.

Despite Hendricks’s impressive innings, which included six sixes and six fours, he was eventually dismissed by Forde in the 19th over, ending any hopes of a South African comeback.

King praised teammate Motie for his exceptional bowling, attributed to his skill and tactical thinking. King also said that Forde’s comeback performance, securing three wickets, is highlighted as a confidence booster.

“I think he’s a very skilful bowler,” King said. “He’s a very smart bowler as well. He changes his pace really well. He tries to think ahead of the batsman and he executes well most of the time. So he’s been a reliable player for us and we hope that he continues.

“And good to see [Matthew] Forde for picking up three for 27 after not having a great first game. Yeah, of course, Forde has a lot of confidence as a player and it’s good that he got to come back in this game and do really well. Obviously he bowls the new ball very well and he got an early wicket. So getting a good start, I’m sure that gives him a lot of confidence.”