South Africa defeated the United States by 18 runs in their T20 World Cup Super 8 match which was played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, on Wednesday.
The Proteas managed to defend the 195-run target with Kagiso Rabada starring for the winning side with his spell of 3/18 in four overs.
Chasing the target, the USA had a good start with Steven Taylor leading the attack against the Proteas’ pacers but Rabada gave his team the first breakthrough by removing the left-handed batter on just 24 runs.
Following Taylor’s dismissal, the USA lost wickets at regular intervals with Nitish Kumar (8), skipper Aaron Jones (0), Corey Anderson (2) and Shayan Jahangir (3) all walking back to the pavilion without scoring big runs.
It looked nearly impossible for the USA to get back in the game but Andries Gous and Harmeet Singh’s 91-run target made things difficult for the Proteas as, at one point, the USA required 28 runs from 12 balls.
However, Rabada took the ball in the 19th over and, once again, eased his side’s worries by removing Harmeet on the first ball which halted the USA’s attack. With Harmeet (38 off 22) gone, things got difficult for USA and they eventually concluded their innings at 176-6 in 20 overs. Gous scored 80 off 47 with the help of 10 boundaries.
Earlier, after being asked to bat first, South Africa didn’t have the brightest start as Reeza Hendricks continued his bad form and returned to the pavilion after just scoring 11 runs, leaving his side 16-1 in 2.4 overs.
However, after losing one wicket, the Proteas recovered quickly as Quinton de Kock decided to take charge of their innings and played his best knock of the tournament by scoring 74 runs on 40 balls with the help of seven fours and five sixes.
The 110-run partnership between skipper Aiden Markram and De Kock helped the Proteas get in the driving seat. Following the wicketkeeper batter’s dismissal, South Africa lost wickets in quick succession with David Miller (0), and Markram (46) returning to the pavilion.
Heinrich Klaasen (36 off 22) and Tristan Stubbs (20 off 16) stayed till the end and helped South Africa conclude their innings at 194-4 in the allocated overs.
For the USA, Saurabh Netravalkar bagged two wickets for just 21 runs in four overs. Harmeet Singh also removed two Proteas batters for 24 runs.
Playing XIs
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
USA: Steven Taylor, Shayan Jahangir, Andries Gous (wk), Aaron Jones (c), Nitish Kumar, Corey Anderson, Harmeet Singh, Jasdeep Singh, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Saurabh Netravalkar
