SA hold nerve to reach semi-final
THE GROUNDWORK FOR SA’S WIN WAS LAID BY THE BOWLERS RESTRICTING WEST INDIES TO 135/8. WHILE ALL THE SOUTH AFRICAN BOWLERS BARRING ANRICH NORTJE TOOK A WICKET, LEFT-ARM WRIST SPINNER TABRAIZ SHAMSI STARRED WITH FIGURES OF 4-0-27-3.
DELHI: Taking South Africa’s tumultuous and tragic past in World Cups into account, rain in a run chase with a semi-final berth on the line was bound to evoke grave anxiety. That dreaded C-word almost haunted the Proteas yet again, but Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada kept their cool in the end at North Sound in Antigua to take South Africa over the line against West Indies with three wickets in hand and book a last-four spot in the T20 World Cup. WI have been knocked out.
If South Africa’s batters are honest with themselves, it should have never come down to Jansen and Rabada having to finish the chase. In pursuit of 136 for victory in this virtual quarter-final, South Africa were jolted early with the wickets of Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock in the second over of the innings. To complicate matters further, rain halted play for 75 minutes and revised the target to 123 in a match now reduced to 17 overs. But SA seemed to respond well to the change in the equation on resumption of play. In the fourth over, skipper Aiden Markram stood tall and carved a back-of-alength ball from Andre Russell through cover point for four. In the next over, twice in two balls, Tristan Stubbs punished left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein through point for fours.
Even though Alzarri Joseph struck off the second ball of his spell to dislodge Markram, Heinrich Klaasen immediately got into his groove. In the seventh over, bowled by left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, Klaasen began with a six down the ground and ended with three consecutive fours, taking South Africa to 70/3 in seven overs with 53 more to get in 60 balls.
From that strong position, South Africa contrived to lose four wickets for 33 runs to be reduced to 110/7 with 13 runs required off 10 balls.
Two singles and two byes off the next three deliveries meant nine were needed off seven balls. That is when Rabada found a precious boundary off Roston Chase to the right of long-off. Off the first ball of the final over, Jansen smashed Obed McCoy towards long-on to finish it with a six.
The groundwork for SA’s win was laid by the bowlers restricting West Indies to 135/8. While all the South African bowlers barring Anrich Nortje took a wicket, left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi starred with figures of 4-0-27-3. If SA hadn’t sneaked to victory, familiar criticism about the players squandering a winning position would have resurfaced. But since they are through, the upside from their unbeaten streak in this tournament is that they are prevailing in nail-biting finishes.
If a team that hasn’t yet been defeated is to fire a warning to their opponents, how about this from Markram? “We have not played our best game of cricket yet, so we will try to put it together for the semi-final.”
Brief scores: WI 135/8 in 20 overs (R Chase 52; T Shamsi 3/27). SA 124/7 in 16.1 overs (T Stubbs 29). SA won by 3 wickets.