T20 World Cup 2021, South Africa vs Windies (Super 12): Markram's sublime 50 hands 8-wicket win to Proteas
By Ayush Gupta | First Published Oct 26, 2021, 8:10 PM ISTSouth Africa has managed to register its first win of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, defeating Windies by eight wickets. Meanwhile, the defeat for Windies has put its chances for semi-final qualification in jeopardy.
South Africa came up with an intelligent performance to outplay defending champion Windies by eight wickets in Group 1's Super 12 clash of the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday. While Protea has registered its maiden tournament win, the loss has seriously jeopardised Windies's chances of qualifying for the semis.
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Winning the toss, South African skipper Temba Bavuma opted to bowl. At the same time, he made a change by bringing in Reeza Hendricks for wicketkeeper-opener Quinton de Kock, as the latter opted out for being against Cricket South Africa's (CSA) directive of taking the knee. In the meantime, Windies skipper Kieron Pollard, too, made a change by bringing in Hayden Walsh for McCoy.
The Windies openers were off to a great start, with Lendl Simmons (16) and Evin Lewis (56) putting on a 76-run partnership before the latter fell to spinner Keshav Maharaj in the 11th over after scoring his this T20I half-century. 14 runs later, Nicholas Pooran (12) departed to Maharaj in the 13th, followed by Simmons to pacer Kagiso Rabada in the next over, at 89.
The pair of Chris Gayle (12) and Pollard (26) put in 32 runs before the former was dismissed by pacer Dwaine Pretorius in the 18th, followed by Shimron Hetmyer (1) in the following over off a run-out at 133. In the final over, Pollard and Hayden Walsh (0) were sent back by Pretorius, with Windies finishing at a regular total of 143/8.
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South Africa put six bowlers into the attack, with Pretorius claiming three, while pacer Anrich Nortje was highly economical. In reply, it lost Bavuma (2) in the opening over off an unfortunate run out, with just four runs on the board. However, fellow opener Hendricks (39) and Rassie van der Dussen (43*) put on a 57-run stand to steady the South African chase before the former fell to spinner Akeal Hosein in the tenth.
Nevertheless, van der Dussen and Aiden Markram (51*) did some serious batting to push the mediocre Windies bowling onto the backfoot. As Markram scored his fifth T20I half-century, the pair chased the total down and handed Proteas an eight-wicket win, with ten balls to spare. Six bowlers were put into the attack by the Windies, with only Hosein striking, while pacer Dwayne Bravo was the most economical of all.
Brief scores: Windies 143/8 (Lewis- 56; Pretorius- 3/17) lost to South Africa 144/2 in 18.2 overs (Hendricks- 39, van der Dussen- 43, Markram- 51*; Hosein- 1/27) by eight wickets.
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