South Africa cricket team under Aiden Markram qualified for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals with a nail-biting victory against West Indies in Antigua. Both teams were under pressure to win this match in order to secure the semi-final spot.
West Indies have won only one of their two Super 8 games while South Africa remains unbeaten in the same. With England already qualified for the semi-finals, there is still only one spot left out in the group 2.
With a must-win for both teams, the high-profile game met many twists and turns. At first, Shamsi’s four-fer helped South Africa to contain West Indies for 135 while Russell’s twin wicket in the second over of the second inning was expected to be the turning point for the Windies.
With pressure building on both sides, rain made a surprise entry and forced players to move off the field. Nearly an hour later, the match restarted with a revised target of 123 to be scored within 17 overs(DLS method).
With a nail-biting final over where SA required just five for the victory, Marco Jansen struck a six off the first ball and quenched South Africa’s semi-final qualification thirst which prolonged for a decade.
South Africa last qualified for the semi-finals back in the 2014 T20 World Cup and failed to reach the knock-out round in three consecutive tournaments.
Speaking of the match, winning the toss, South Africa decided to bowl first where Kyle Mayers and Shai Hope opened the inning for West Indies. In the very third delivery of the inning, Marco Jansen dismissed Shai Hope for a golden duck and made an excellent start for South Africa.
In the very next over, Markram dismissed Pooran for one run and loaded pressure over the West Indies batters. Picking a couple of early wickets might not stop West Indies from scoring big.
Windies have a power-packed batting line-up which could explode at any point of the game. With a couple of catch drops in the powerplay, West Indies managed to score 47 runs for 2 wickets loss at the end of the first powerplay.
47 runs is the second-lowest powerplay total for West Indies in this World Cup after 23 vs NZ in Tarouba.
Kyle Mayers and Roston Chase built an 81-run partnership for the third wicket and pushed the team’s score towards a decent number. Shamsi broke the threatening partnership by dismissing Kyle Mayers in the 12th over.
Following his dismissal, West Indies batters struggled to face the South African bowling attack and fell cheaply. Before reaching the 100 runs mark, West Indies lost three more batters and ended up scoring 103 runs for 6 wickets at the end of 16 overs.
In the very next over, death over specialist Andre Russell smashed a couple of sixes and gave relief to the Windies camp.
Power 🤝🏻 Dre Russ
Two solid maximums and #AndreRussell got the Windies fans back on their dancing shoes right before his run-out!
𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝟖 👉 #WIvSA | LIVE NOW | #T20WorldCupOnStar (available only in India) pic.twitter.com/gcZa1dECGA
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 24, 2024
While the allrounder was expected to execute an exceptional inning in the final three overs, he lost his wicket in the very first ball of the 18th over via run-out dismissal.
Rabada in the same over dismissed Akeal Hosein and spilled just one run of the over. With a six in the final over, West Indies scored 135 runs for 8 wickets loss.
While chasing, South Africa started off the inning with 12 runs off the first over but a couple of wickets in the second over loaded pressure over the South African batters.
Apart from the dismissals, South Africa faced another burden in the form of rain which forced the match to be restricted to 17 overs with a revised target of 123.
The ‘Golden Arm’ of #AndreRussell delivers yet again as he gets #ReezaHendricks & #QuintondeKock caught! 💪🏻
Is this an opening for the Windies in this Super Decider? 🤔
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— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 24, 2024
While chasing the 123-run target, South Africa lost their wickets in regular intervals but batters never failed to contribute runs before their dismissals. Without their star batters towards the end of the game, South Africa were in need of 13 from 12 which was later reduced to 5 off the last over.
With a six of the first delivery of the final over, Marco Jansen led South Africa to win the game by 3 wickets and sealed their spot in the T20 World Cup semi-final round.
South Africa eliminates West Indies to book their semi-final spot in the #T20WorldCup2024! 🙌🏻
Onto #𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐲 NOW 👉 #AUSvIND, TODAY at 6 PM where Australia faces an elimination threat in the Group 1 of 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝟖 only on Star Sports Network! pic.twitter.com/xZwFeqsgb1
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 24, 2024
