Death bowling implosion trumps Reeza heroics as Proteas surrender T20 series to Windies

At the Wanderers

Two days after reminding the world that nothing is impossible when chasing a target in the T20 format, the Proteas themselves were reminded that doing so on consecutive occasions doesn't happen so easily.

While this series was meaningless in the greater scheme of things from the outset - there is, after all, automatic qualification for the 50-over World Cup on the line this weekend against the Netherlands - South Africa will be disappointed that they allowed the West Indies to walk away with a 2-1 triumph, confirmed when the visitors won Tuesday night's decider here by seven runs.

Despite another run fest suggesting that life was tough for the bowlers again, this surface was actually far more competitive than SuperSport Park and, with some prudent judgement, the batters could be reined in.

By the end of the 18th over of the Windies' batting effort, the hosts looked set to pursue a comfortable target, especially in light of their opponents already being eight down.

Things are never that simple, however, when it comes to the men from the Caribbean, who invariably bat all the way down in their T20 line-ups.

To rest on one's laurels at the death is never a good idea and, as things panned out, the Proteas lost their grip on this game because they bled an almighty 43 runs in the last two overs.

Ironically, South Africa's best bowler on the night, Kagiso Rabada, was the biggest culprit in a frenetic 14-minute period.

He had delivered a double-strike in his opening over that went a long way towards the islanders’  batting effort progressing at a more mundane pace than in Centurion.

From the outset the Proteas’ pace spearhead focused on being full and fast, which led to Kyle Mayers being castled trying to pull.

He then