South Africa sealed their semifinal berth with a thrilling three-wicket win over the co-hosts West Indies in the rain-truncated T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Monday, June 24.
With a revised target of 123 runs due to rain, South Africa chased it down with five balls to spare in the final over of the match. When Proteas required just 5 runs off 6 balls to win, the middle-order batter Marco Jansen hit a six off Obed McCoy to take the team past the finishing line.
Tristan Stubbs led South Africa's with an innings of 29 off 27 balls, while Heinrich Klassen (22) and Marco Jansen (21*) chipped in with valuable innings.
For West Indies, Rostan Chase led the bowling with three wickets while conceding just 12 runs in 3 overs, while Andre Russell and Alzarri Joseph picked a wicket each. Eventually, their efforts went in vain as West Indies were knocked out of the tournament.
Chasing a initial 136-run target, South Africa lost three wickets in Reeza Hendricks (0), Quinton de Kock (12) and Aiden Markram (18) for 42 runs in 5.1 overs. Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs stabilized the Proteas innings with 35-run stand for the fourth wicket until the former was dismissed at 77/4.
David Miller had a short stay at the crease as he was removed for just 4 runs at 93/5. Tristan Stubbs was in a good touch until he was dismissed at 100/6. Keshav Maharaj walked back to the pavilion after scoring just 2 runs at 110/7. When South Africa required 13 off 12 balls, Kagiso hit a four on the final ball of the 19th over to bring down the equation to 5 off 6 balls before Marco Jansen hit a six on the first ball of the last over to help the team achieve revised 123-run target.
Mid innings update:
South Africa's bowling attack led by Tabraiz Shami helped the side to restrict West Indies to 135/8 in the first innings of the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua's North Sound on Monday, June 24.
After opting to bowl first by South Africa, Marco Jansen and skipper Aiden Markram gave early breakthroughs for Proteas by dismissing Shai Hope (0) and Nicholas Pooran (1), respectively. West Indies were 5/2 when Kyle Mayers and Raston Chase stepped up for the co-hosts with a crucial 81-run stand until the latter was dismissed by Tabraiz Shamsi for 35 at 86/3.
Skipper Rovman Powell (1) and Sherfane Rutherford (0) were dismissed cheaply by spin bowling duo Keshav Maharaj and Shamsi, respectively and West Indies were reduced to 94/6. Tabraiz Shamsi ended Raston Chase's stay at the crease by dismissing him for 52 at 97/6.
After Chase's dismissal, Andre Russell accelerated the co-hosts innings by smashing two sixes until he was run out by Anrich Nortje fpr 15 at 117/7. Then, Akeal Hossein walked back to the pavilion after being dismissed by Kagiso Rabada for 6 at 118/8.
Alzarri Joseph (11*) and Gudakesh Motie (4*) added 20 runs to West Indies total and set a 139-run target for South Africa to chase.
Tabraiz Shamsi led Proteas bowling attack by taking three wickets while conceding 27 runs, while Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram and Keshav Maharaj picked a wicket each.
