South Africa vs. West Indies, 5th ODI: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

South Africa wrapped up their ODI series with West Indies in style with a crushing 131-run victory at Centurion.

It did not seem like there would be any play at all, as the players arrived at the ground to the sound of heavy rain, but the weather relented and South Africa treated the crowd to a superb display.

Hashim Amla and Rilee Rossouw blasted centuries to help South Africa post 361 for 5 in a rain-restricted 42 overs.

Uncredited/Associated Press

West Indies lost Chris Gayle to the first ball of their innings, and although their batsmen continued to play shots, they finished well short as South Africa wrapped up the series 4-1.

Quinton de Kock’s return to the side following injury lasted a mere seven balls. He got in an almighty mess attempting to play a short ball from Jason Holder and could only spoon the ball straight up in the air for Jonathan Carter to take a simple catch.

The short ball proved to be the undoing of Faf du Plessis as well, with the South Africa No. 3 unable to get over the top of a bouncer from Andre Russell and Sheldon Cottrell took a simple catch at fine leg.

Those two short balls were effectively the highlights for West Indies, as Amla and Rossouw both helped themselves to superb tons.

"

#WhattaGuy @amlahash's average for the series is 206.5 – 413 runs from 4 innings with 2 not outs. #ProteaFire #SAvWI pic.twitter.com/LqT153iOhK

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) January 28, 2015"

They dominated the West Indies bowling in putting on a superb 247-run partnership.

"To score a hundred for your country is something I have dreamed of, now I have experienced it so it is really emotional," Rossouw told broadcaster SuperSport. "I am here to score runs, I was lucky it was my day today."

Both were removed by Russell, but that did not stem the tide as David Miller and JP Duminy clobbered the bowling in the final few overs—it was somewhat appropriate that the final ball was smashed for six—to take South Africa to a stunning 361 for 5 from their 42 overs.

The par score at Centurion for 50 overs is 269, per the SuperSport broadcast, which puts into perspective the effort of South Africa.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
Q de Kock†	c Carter b Holder	4	6	7
HM Amla*	b Russell	133	190	105
F du Plessis	c Cottrell b Russell	16	37	27
RR Rossouw	c Carter b Russell	132	136	98
DA Miller	c †Ramdin b Holder	23	16	9
JP Duminy	not out	18	12	7
F Behardien	not out	5	4	2
Extras	(lb 7, w 20, nb 3)	30
Total	(5 wickets; 42 overs; 202 mins)	361
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
SS Cottrell	7	0	48	0
JO Holder	9	0	77	2
CR Brathwaite	9	0	46	0
AD Russell	8	0	85	3
DJG Sammy	7	0	59	0
N Deonarine	2	0	19	0

West Indies needed a good start to their innings. They got anything but, as Gayle chased a wide ball off Kyle Abbott—it was so bad the umpire signalled wide—but South Africa went for a review and replays showed Gayle had feathered the ball behind to De Kock.

"

Golden Duck for Chris Gayle!!! This ODI series has been very cruel on him. #SAvWI #ProteaFire

— Mikhail Bolosha (@Mac_Hail) January 28, 2015"

Dwayne Smith strode to the crease and signalled his intent by smashing a couple of balls to the boundary.

Smith and Narsingh Deonarine scored briskly, but the former fell to the spin of Aaron Phangio and the latter was run out following a mix-up with Marlon Samuels.

Samuels and Denesh Ramdin scored at a shade over a run a ball, but that was still short of what was required. Samuels attempted to up the ante after the drinks break but was clean bowled by Abbott.

Uncredited/Associated Press

Ramdin fell soon after to a brilliant running catch by Amla, which left the West Indies innings in disarray.

Russell is a fabulous striker of a ball and he took 19 off an Abbott over, but it proved to be a brief cameo as he feathered a catch behind to De Kock off Wayne Parnell.

The end soon followed, with South Africa’s second-string attack, led by the impressive Parnell's four wickets, proving there is depth to the Proteas’ bowling.

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Minutes	Balls
CH Gayle	c †de Kock b Abbott	0	1	1
N Deonarine	run out (Amla/Phangiso)	43	70	50
DR Smith	lbw b Phangiso	31	57	28
MN Samuels	b Abbott	50	69	47
D Ramdin†	c Amla b Parnell	40	65	40
AD Russell	c †de Kock b Parnell	24	18	12
JL Carter	c Abbott b Parnell	0	3	3
DJG Sammy	b Behardien	27	45	25
JO Holder*	c Rossouw b Parnell	0	3	3
CR Brathwaite	c †de Kock b de Lange	1	13	9
SS Cottrell	not out	2	19	8
Extras	(lb 2, w 9)	11
Total	(10 wickets; 37.4 overs)	230
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
KJ Abbott	7	0	57	2
M de Lange	8	0	34	1
WD Parnell	9	0	42	4
AM Phangiso	8	0	53	1
F Behardien	5.4	0	40	1

Both sides can now turn their attentions to the World Cup, and it will be South Africa who will head to the tournament in high spirits.

For West Indies, skipper Holder has much to work on if they are to be competitive in Australia and New Zealand.