A clinical South Africa outclassed West Indies by nine wickets in their Super 8 clash to stretch their unbeaten run and seal a place in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup here on Thursday.
A dominating show by the Proteas pacer was followed by authoritative batting. Yet again, South Africa executed their plans perfectly to further their cause, racking up their sixth win on the trot and halting West Indies’ unbeaten run in the tournament.
With South Africa taking two vital points off the West Indies, hosts India now have their qualification hopes firmly in their own hands as a Proteas defeat would have dented their chances severely. The loss hurt the Caribbean side’s net run rate that came down to 1.791 from a healthy 5.350.
First it was South Africa pacers that rocked the West Indies’ batting line-up before a lower-order fightback from Romario Shepherd (52 not out) and Jason Holder (49) lifted the two-time champions to 176 for eight. Then skipper Aiden Markram (82 not out), Quinton De Kock (47) and Ryan Rickelton (45 not out) batted with authority as the Proteas overhauled the target in 16.1 overs.
By collecting 69 runs from the six Powerplay overs, the South Africans had demoralised the Windies attack. Except for a few hit-and-miss shots, the two openers controlled the proceedings. They struck both pacers and spinners with equal ease and raised a quick 95-run stand in 7.5 overs, hitting 16 boundaries, including six shots over the rope.
De Kock hit four sixes and as many fours in his 24-ball knock before offering a catch to Jason Holder at long-on. Markram raised his fifty with a single off Gudakesh Motie. With Rickelton, Markram raised an unbeaten 82-run stand and finished the game in style with a straight four off pacer Jason Holder.
“We actually bowled pretty well, obviously the powerplay was a big thing for us, to get off nicely. The partnership with Quinny set things up,” said Markram, who was adjudged player of the match. “The second innings was good to bat on, it was slightly tacky early on and the guys bowled pretty well early on.”
Earlier, from the high of their dominant win over Zimbabwe, the West Indies were in for a rude shock as Kagiso Rabada (2/22) and Lungi Ngidi (3/30) got the ball to bounce from good length to trouble the batters, reducing the big-hitting West Indies line-up to 83 for seven.
Holder (49 off 31) and Romario Shepherd (52 not out off 37) then stitched together a record 89-run stand for the eighth wicket to prevent a complete collapse of the innings.
Opting to bowl, South Africa opened with spinner Keshav Maharaj but Shai Hope (16 off six) showed early intent, launching him for two sixes and a four. At the other end, Brandon King (21 off 11) threw his bat around against Marco Jansen, collecting quick boundaries as the Caribbean side raced to 29 in just over two overs.
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