ESPNcricinfo Awards 2023 Men's T20I bowling winner: Alzarri's big fiver

Joseph was West Indies' leading wicket-taker in both the Test and ODI series against South Africa, and he completed a clean sweep with a clutch performance in the T20I decider in Johannesburg.

At high altitude and on a belter of a surface, West Indies posted a competitive 220 and South Africa started off strongly in pursuit. They were 32 without loss after four overs when Joseph was brought on and the threat he posed was immediately clear. His first delivery slanted across Quinton de Kock, who swished, and missed by a distance. His second was slower; de Kock was early on the upper cut and gave Roston Chase a simple catch on the boundary. The rest of that over belonged to Rilee Rossouw, who took 14 runs off the next three balls, and Joseph was taken out of the attack.

He was then used in one-over bursts; he came back in the tenth over, and then the 15th. By then, Rossouw was out but Reeza Hendricks and David Miller had combined for a stand of 37 off 21 balls. Miller tried to hit Joseph over long-on but did not get hold of a length ball and sent it to Sheldon Cottrell to give West Indies an opening.

Joseph's coup de grace came in the penultimate over. South Africa needed 35 runs off 12 balls and Hendricks was set on 83. Joseph attempted a wide yorker first up, which ended up a low full toss that Hendricks did not swing hard enough at; long-on took a simple catch. Two balls later, Joseph went full and wide again and Heinrich Klaasen sliced him to short third. And two balls after that, Joseph nailed his yorker to take out Wayne Parnell's off stump, claiming his fifth. That left South Africa needing 25 runs off seven balls. They fell seven runs short.

Removing David Miller when Joseph did was crucial to West Indies' defence but it was the wicket of Hendricks that turned the game. Hendricks had been South Africa's most consistent T20 run-scorer over the year, and on his home ground was in a position to steal the win. The delivery may not have been exactly what Joseph had in mind but the result meant Klaasen had to swing from the get-go and it put pressure on South Africa's middle order.

1 The number of five-fors Alzarri Joseph has taken in T20Is; this one was the first

16 Wickets taken by Joseph in 2023 in T20Is, at an average of 21.06 from nine matches. He was West Indies' highest wicket-taker in the format in the year, with the best average.

"I'm very happy for Alzarri. South Africa is a nice place to bowl and we knew he would like bowling here. The natural thing was to go back to [Sheldon] Cottrell, but within our team, we know who can nail four out of six yorkers."
- Rovman Powell.

Adam Milne
5 for 26 vs Sri Lanka, second T20I, Dunedin
After Sri Lanka snuck the series lead, winning the Super Over in the first match, New Zealand hit back with a Milne special in the second. He removed Pathum Nissanka in the fourth over to pin Sri Lanka back early but the real damage came in the middle and at the end of the innings. Sri Lanka were 91 for 2 in the 12th over when Milne foxed Kusal Perera, on 35, with a slower ball that he pulled to deep midwicket. In the penultimate over he took three wickets in five balls, including two off yorkers. New Zealand were set a target of 141 and reached it inside 15 overs to keep the series alive. They went on to win it 2-1.