Peerless South Africa storm into T20 World Cup semifinal

AHMEDABAD: Even before India took the field against Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday evening, South Africa had done their bit to calm the nerves of Indian fans in the afternoon. South African captain Aiden Markram produced an exhibition of sublime ball-striking with an unbeaten 82 off 46 balls to take his team to a nine-wicket win after pacers Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Corbin Bosch ensured West Indies could only post 176/8 on a flat track.Chasing down the target in 16.1 overs not only sealed South Africa’s spot in the semifinal, it also brought down West Indies’ net run rate to 1.791. The result must have taken the pressure off the Indian team, which suffered a humiliating loss against South Africa last Sunday.

In pursuit of 177, Markram laid down the marker in the Powerplay by racing to 43 off 20 balls. Quinton de Kock joined the party by smashing pacer Shamar Joseph for 16 runs in the final over of the Powerplay as South Africa scored 69 in six overs.

De Kock fell to Roston Chase for 47 off 24 in the eighth over but then the scoreboard read 96/1. Ryan Rickelton joined Markram to score unbeaten 45 off 28 balls and finish the job.Earlier, the West Indies threatened to take off in the first two overs of the match, putting up 29 runs on the board.But Rabada and Ngidi pulled things back, reducing West Indies to 52/4. Rabada’s 2/22, Ngidi’s 3/30 and Bosch’s 2/31 had West Indies in dire straits at 83/7 by the 11th over.

Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd played the rescue act with an 89-run partnership in 9.3 overs.Shepherd, coming out to bat at No. 9, finished unbeaten on 52 off 37 while Holder was run out in the final over for 49 off 31 balls. Rabada hurt West Indies’ chances by dismissing captain Shai Hope for 16 and Shimron Hetmyer for two in the third over. Ngidi then sent back Brandon King and Chase. On a day when Marco Jansen (0/50) and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (0/43) were off-colour, Ngidi’s dipping slower balls and Bosch’s pinpoint yorkers meant West Indies managed only 13 runs in the last two overs.