After a successful chase against the Windies, the Proteas get their T20 World Cup campaign on track. It was a tough match for South Africa as they had to play without the service of the explosive opening batsman Quinton De Kock, who was sitting out of this match. The toss also went South Africa’s way as they chose to bowl on a good wicket in Dubai. Teams prefer to chase in Dubai, and it resulted pretty well for South Africa. West Indies put up an inadequate score of 143 on a good batting wicket, and it resulted in no problems for the South Africans to chase the target comprehensively. In both departments of the game, the defending champions looked vulnerable, because of which they lost this match.
A lethal South African bowling performance
South African bowlers gave no chance to the West Indian batters as they bowled hard-length bowls that were not easy to hit by the batters. It was an all-around performance from the bowlers except for Shamsi, who went for runs. It was a lethal spell by Anrich Nortje during the powerplay and at the end as he conceded just 14 runs at an economy rate of 3.50. He was adjourned the player of the match for his fierce spell. South Africans kept things tight and didn’t give the West Indies batsmen the boundary balls. Even though South Africa failed to pick up wickets during the powerplay, it was the middle overs where they only conceded 51 runs between overs 7-15 and picked up three big wickets. During the death, they were mixing up their pace and length, conceding runs at a rate of 9.6, which is commendable in the overs 16-20. The key for keeping West Indies under 150 was that South Africa was picking up wickets at regular intervals and didn’t give any batsman a chance to hit a big score.
Upsetting performance by the Windies
Evin Lewis was the only batsman who looked good and was responsible for the bulk of runs in this West Indies score. West Indies were not able to convert the start given by Lewis and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, which resulted in no momentum in their innings. The main reason for West Indies’ low score was a poor batting display by their other opener Lendl Simmons. Simmons scored 16 runs and ate up 35 balls for that, scoring at a strike rate of a miserable 45.71. Simmons put the brakes on the score, and he didn’t look in great touch. West Indies couldn’t hit the accelerator button from then on and struggled to hit the big shots. Added to this, Chris Gayle scored at a strike rate of 100. West Indies are known for hard-hitting and big scores, but they couldn’t achieve any of that during their batting against the South Africans. It was a poor display of batting by the defending champions as the total was not enough for their bowlers to defend against South Africa.
Smooth chase by South Africa
A masterclass by Aiden Markram sealed the match for the Proteas. Markram was the anchor and the game changer of this chase as he came in and scored a blistering half-century off just 26 balls. Markram stroked the ball at an astonishing 196.15, as he preferred the on the side and scored 34 runs in the long-on and mid-wicket region. He connected the ball well as he hit two fours and four huge sixes and saw Proteas through the finishing line comfortably at the end. The credits of this chase also go to Hendricks, and Van Der Dussen, who built a solid partnership at the top after their skipper Bavuma was run out early in the innings. Hendricks and Dussen put up 57 runs off 50 balls together. Hendricks was the leader of this partnership, scoring 37 off 27 balls. Even though Hendricks was dismissed during the 10th over, it didn’t bother the South African chase as Markram and Dussen built up a great partnership of 83 off just 54 balls, which sealed the game for South Africa. Markram scored the bulk of the runs, and Dussen played the supporters’ role in both the partnerships ensuring no mishaps were there. West Indies bowlers couldn’t take wickets at regular intervals and break these partnerships, which was the reason for their heavy loss against the Proteas.
Conclusion
The defending champions, West Indies, have lost two out of two matches in this edition of the T20 World Cup. They need to fight back and hope South Africa and England lose their remaining games for a chance of qualifying for the semis. On the other hand, Proteas should forget their loss in the first match and focus on gaining this winning momentum till the end to qualify in the semi-finals. This group is intense, and it will be exciting to see who qualifies for the semi-finals.