South Africa held their nerve to beat the West Indies by 3 wickets (DLS) and claimed a semi-final spot in the T20 World Cup.
The Proteas won the toss and Aiden Markram opted to bowl first. The Proteas captain utilised his bowlers well, particularly his spinners, to restrict the West Indies to 135-8 in 20 overs.
Tabraiz Shamsi was the top wicket-taker for SA finishing with 3-27, which included the wickets of Kyle Mayers (35) and Roston Chase (52), who were the key batters for their side.
He also made the brave decision to bowl himself for 4 overs, which saw the wicket of Nicholas Pooran (1) and he held back Kagiso Rabada till the final overs, which was integral to throttling the opposition.
The Proteas’ batting problems raised its head again. South Africa found themselves 15-2 after 2 overs, with Reeza Hendricks (0) and Quinton de Kock (12 off 7) back in the dugout.
Rain disrupted the game and it was reduced to 17 overs, with a reduced target of 123.
South Africa needed 108 off 90 balls and took the difficult road.
They would lose wickets as soon as partnerships started to form. Markram (18), Tristan Stubbs (29) and Heinrich Klaasen (22) were all crucial to keeping the game close to a run a ball, but poor shot selection saw wickets fall at important stages.
Marco Jansen’s 21 off 14 balls was the telling contribution, his six off the first ball of the final over, clinching the victory for South Africa.
Check out our full review of the match below:
