Quinton de Kock’s impressive stand helped South Africa secure an 18-run victory against the United States in the first match of the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup 2024 on June 19 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
He was named as the Player of the match after his impressive knock of 74 runs giving a solid stand for South Africa’s huge total at Antigua.
While speaking in the post-match interview, de Kock said, “There have been a few tricky wickets, nice to spend time out there. The USA put us under pressure, it was a great game. Just trying to focus on scoring runs, the rest of it will take care of itself.”
“We have had a few tricky wickets coming into this game, so it was great to be out there. We still have a few games to win, we are coming up against big teams. It was a good game, but it changes next time. Different venue, different team, so you never know what’s out there,” he concluded.
The Proteas have prevailed in an humdinger 🇿🇦
Kagiso Rabada’s heroics with the ball help South Africa register their first win in the Super Eight stage 🙌#T20WorldCup | #USAvSA | 📝: https://t.co/B9ixaLfSqV pic.twitter.com/oFpYXt1F6S
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) June 19, 2024
Coming to the match, the United States won the toss and opted to bowl. Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks opened the innings while Netravalkar opened the bowling attack. In the third over, Hendricks was dismissed on the fourth delivery from Netravalkar where he went for a lofted shot which only hit the ball in the bottom of the bat. The ball went high in the mid off where Corey Anderson managed to grab the ball.
With his dismissal for 11 runs, Aiden Markram came to bat. His partnership helped the side to score 64 runs in the powerplay. Meanwhile, Quinton de Kock smashed his first fifty in the T20 World Cup 2024. By the end of 10 overs, South Africa scored 101 runs.
He was dismissed by Harmeet Singh in the 13th over for 74 runs giving a breakthrough point for the United States. He was caught out by Jahangir in the mid-wicket in a full-toss delivery.
He then bagged the wicket of David Miller for a golden duck. Miller was caught out by Harmeet Singh which returned to him for an easy catch. With the dismissal of Aiden Markram in the last ball of the 15th over, South Africa scored 141 runs losing four wickets.
Markram scored 46 runs before Netravalkar delivered a full and wide outside off. Markram tried to reach out for it with a slice and Ali Khan from square third man took the catch in front of him.
Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs scored 36* and 20* runs respectively and helped South Africa to score 194 runs by the end of 20 overs. With a target of 195 runs, Steven Taylor and Andries Gous gave a fiery start for the US. Steven Taylor scored 24 runs in 14 deliveries before being dismissed by Rabada in the fourth over. Rabada Striked again bagging the wicket of Nitish Kumar for 8 runs in the 6th over.
Despite losing two wickets in powerplay, the United States scored 53 runs and had a positive start in the match. Maharaj dismissed Aaron Jones for a duck. He was sent out on a full toss delivery outside off where Jones had gone for a drive and the ball has taken an outside edge which was caught by de Kock behind the wickets.
With the dismissal of Corey Anderson for 3 runs, Andries Gous and Harmeet Singh scored a 91-run partnership stand including Andries Gous’s fifty. In the 19th over, Harmeet Singh was dismissed by Rabada for 38 runs. The United States scored 169 runs by the end of 19 overs.
Finally, With Andries Gous’s 80 runs, the United States scored 176 in 20 overs losing the match by 18 runs.
