Win Projections to be updated soon
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Super Eights, Group 2 saw an exciting contest at North Sound, Antigua, where South Africa defeated the West Indies by three wickets.
In their allocated 20 overs, West Indies scored a total of 135/8 while batting first. With a strong 52 off 42 balls and assistance from Kyle Mayers, who scored 35 runs off 34 balls, Roston Chase was the most impressive player. Nevertheless, West Indies frequently lost wickets and found it difficult to form meaningful partnerships. The best bowler in South Africa was Tabraiz Shamsi, who took three wickets for 27 runs and won Player of the Match. Each of Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram, Keshav Maharaj, and Marco Jansen contributed a wicket.
Due to a weather delay, South Africa’s response target was altered to 123 runs from 17 overs. They lost wickets at a regular rate, thus the chase was not easy. Despite getting off to a fast start—12 runs off of seven balls—Quinton de Kock lost ground quickly. Heinrich Klaasen struck quickly with 22 off ten balls, but Aiden Markram (18 off 15) and Tristan Stubbs (29 off 27) steadied the innings. Marco Jansen’s vital 21 not out off 14 balls saw South Africa through despite a stutter in the middle order. With the ball, Roston Chase was efficient, taking three wickets for 12 runs, while Alzarri Joseph provided support with two wickets for 25 runs.
With five balls remaining, South Africa managed to win by a slim margin of three wickets, reaching 124/7 in 16.1 overs. The Proteas’ semifinal spot has been guaranteed by the victory, and the hosts West Indies are now out from the competition.
Tabraiz Shamsi, Player of the Match:
“I am sweating, i wasn’t even there (in the middle), but I was nervous, but that’s been the trait of the team in this tournament, always fighting till the end. We looked at Marco Jansen’s reaction, he seemed confident that it had crossed the ropes. Our supporters and staff would probably like bigger wins, but we need to take these performances going ahead. We’ve had a lot of chatter, I was backed by the coaching staff to work on my plans.
The guys set things really well, we’re firing on all cylinders and looking forward to the next match. We’ve played well as a team, a complete team performance, there’s no pressure on anyone, we’re working well as a team. It’s a love affair between South Africa and the World Cups (on rain stopping play), but the boys were calm, we knew what we needed to do and there were no such crazy thoughts going around (on the chance of being eliminated).
Rovman Powell, Losing Captain:
“Credit to the boys for fighting till the end. As a batting group this is a performance we want to forget, we didn’t bat well in the middle overs. We lost wickets in clusters and that always breaks the back of the batting team. It was a commendable effort, the boys believed they could defend 135. We haven’t won the World Cup or reached the semifinal but we have played some good cricket in the last 12 months. There is a buzz among the supporters about West Indies cricket again and that is something we take away. We really appreciate the support we have got at various venues and the likes on social media.”
Aiden Markram, Winning Captain:
“Lot of relief to get through to the semifinal. We would have liked to be a lot more convincing. The wicket was playing nicely after the rain break but we tried to kill the game too early. It put us in a tricky position but happy to get over the line. We bowled really well, assessed conditions and kept them to a sub-par total. We could have build a partnership after the break and then take it from there, we will take that learning and hopefully not do that same mistake again.
We picked Shamsi to have a mystery spinner against them and immediately saw it spinning, so we wanted to bowl as much spin as we can. If it wouldn’t spun that much then we would have used our pacers, not a lot of times when KG bowls only 2 overs. We have been doing really well, the bowling unit is firing and as a batting unit it is about when to take the game on. We need to be smart on those situations. I haven’t been following but whoever it might be we have to put our best foot forward.”
India
