Mumbai: South Africa has certainly settled in nicely in Ahmedabad’s conditions, both in batting and bowling. Since the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera is the venue for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final, if South Africa reaches the title clash, it doesn’t bode well for their opponents.
After crushing India in their opening Super Eights Group 1 game at the same ground on Thursday, the South Africa batters enjoyed the true bounce of the playing surface at the Ahmedabad ground, soundly thrashing the West Indies bowlers, while their bowlers showed a knack for effectively using whatever life is in the surface on their way to a resounding nine-wicket win.
After restricting West Indies to 176, South Africa made short work of the chase, winning in 16.1 overs. Captain Aiden Markram put on a show with a magnificent unbeaten 82 off 46 balls.
South Africa, who have yet to lose a match in the tournament, sit comfortably at the top of Super Eights Group 1 with two wins out of two.
West Indies’ heavy defeat leaves them needing to beat India at Eden Gardens in the final group game on Sunday.
West Indies captain Shai Hope said: “It was one of those days. I thought we didn’t get enough runs on the board, and it was hard for the bowlers to pull it back. Everything will not be easy. The way we play our cricket, there will be a loss, aim was to get it out early. Next game (vs India) will be a quarter-final.”
Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada set the tone early with the ball, picking up five wickets between them to dismantle the top and middle-order. The opening pair of Brandon King and Hope made a brisk start of 29/0 but Rabada’s double strike in the third over triggered a collapse. First, Hope edged behind while trying to score off a rising short of a length delivery. Three balls later, West Indies suffered a big blow when their in-form left-hander Shimron Hetmyer perished hitting straight to short mid-wicket fielder Keshav Maharaj.
Another double blow in the fourth over completely derailed West Indies’ innings. Bowling his first over, Lungi Ngidi was under pressure after being hit for two boundaries in two balls by King, but he struck with deliveries angled into the batters. On the fourth ball, he induced an edge of opener King’s blade, cramping him for room. A ball later, new batter Roston Chase played on.
The West Indies batters’ focus on hitting big shots had totally backfired. By the 11th over, they were down to 83 for seven. Ngidi picked up one more scalp to finish with figures of 3/30 and Corbin Bosch claimed two for 31 after the early damage done by Rabada.
A record T20I stand of 89 for the eighth wicket between Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd lifted the team to a competitive total. Shepherd made an unbeaten 52 and Holder 49. But the early ground they had conceded, came to bite them back.
For the might of the South African batters, it proved to be a cakewalk. West Indies hopes of making a match of it were over when the opening pair of Markram and Quinton de Kock (24-ball 47) powered to a partnership of 95 in eight overs
Captain Markram toyed with the West Indies attack on way to his third fifty of the tournament. He is now the second highest run-getter of the World Cup with 264 runs in six innings at an average of 66. In terms of quality of strokeplay, it was similar to his unbeaten 86 against New Zealand as he smashed the West Indies bowlers to all parts of the ground with seven fours and four sixes. No 3 Ryan Rickleton took over from De Kock and ensured there were no hiccups with a 28-ball unbeaten 45.
About his fine form, Markram said: “I just try and get into rhythm as quickly as possible, small differences and trying to get a rhythm and flow and do what the team needs.
“Whether I’m captain or not, opening is a responsibility, I have a good relationship with Quinny and Rickelton at No. 3. We try to make sure the team gets off to a good start especially on wickets like this and hope to continue this.”
