North Sound(Antigua), South Africa’s golden generation of white-ball cricketers took a big step by beating the West Indies by three wickets in a thrilling rain-truncated Super 8s game, erasing the “eternal chokers” tag by keeping their composure to enter the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. Full-time wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi(3/27), along with his slow bowling colleagues Keshav Maharaj(1/24) and skipper Aiden Markram(1/28), restricted West Indies to a manageable 135 for 8, South Africa achieved the revised target of 123 with five balls to spare. The Proteas were 15/2 in two overs when rain disrupted proceedings.
With this win, South Africa topped Group 1 followed by defending champions England as the second semifinalist. Tristan Stubbs(29 off 27 balls), one of the most talked-about among young T20 batters, completed the chase in company of Heinrich Klaasen(22 off 10 balls) for the South Africans. But it was Marco Jansen(21 not out off 14 balls), who hit a beautiful six down the ground off the first ball of the 17th over to seal the deal.
The person who was equally praiseworthy, was Kagiso Rabada, hitting a cover drive off Roston Chase when South Africa required 9 off 7 balls. “Lot of relief to get through to the semifinal. We would have liked to be a lot more convincing,” said South African skipper Aiden Markram.
In a contest that was headlined by the most revered names in T20 history, two under-rated cricketers left their imprints. It was an unfair rain-rule in.
