South Africa snatched a thrilling win from the jaws of defeat in their second Super Eight match against England in the T20 World Cup 2024. With this win, South Africa has inched closer to a place in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup.
South Africa Clinch Thrilling Win Over England In Super Eight
The Start
Batting first South Africa got off to a rollicking start courtesy of an attacking half-century from the bat of South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock who along with Reeza Hendricks added 86 runs for the first wicket in 9.5 overs before Hendricks who struggled to clear the boundary at the other end was dismissed. Quinton de Kock followed Reeza soon courtesy of a brilliant diving catch from English captain Jos Butler who also played a crucial part in running out Heinrich Klassen who was caught napping while running between the wickets with David Miller.
The Comeback
The Proteas were reduced from 86-1 in 9.5 overs to 113-4 in 14.4 signaling a middle-order collapse. But Miller and Stubbs with a partnership of 42 runs for the fifth wicket ensured that South Africa crossed the 150-run mark in the 19th over of the innings and was looking to post a total above 180 but as was the case throughout the match England pulled things back with Archer picking up two wickets in the penultimate over of the South African batting innings to restrict them to a score of 163/5 at the end of 20 overs.
The Bowling Effort
As far as England’s bowling was concerned the English bowled like a well-oiled machine in the middle overs led by the spin duo of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid who kept things tight. Archer was the pick of the bowler in the death overs as he bowled with good control and picked up three wickets.
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The Chase
Chasing a total of 164 England got off to a slow start with the pair of Philip Salt and Jos Buttler not being able to middle the ball as a result England was able to score only 35 runs as compared to South Africa’s score of 63 at the end of the first six overs. Salt was dismissed as soon as the powerplay ended on the bowling of fast bowler Kagiso Rabada who continued the good form he showed against USA in the first natch of the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup.
The Control
Maharaj who was the lone specialist spinner in the South African bowling lineup also bowled with good control in the middle overs giving nothing for the batters to pounce on and ended up picking two wickets in the match as a result of which England lost four wickets for 61 runs and needed 103 more runs to win off 74 balls.
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The Rescue Act
That is when the duo of Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone started to pull things in England’s favour as the pair added 78 runs for the fifth wicket bringing England right back in the game courtesy of some poor bowling from the South African bowler who bowled consecutive full tosses making it easy for the batters to hit fours and sixes.
The Result
As the match started to tilt in England’s favout Rabada struck for the second wicket in the match and picked up the big wicket of Liam Livingstone who was threatening to take the game away from South Africa’s grasp. Harry Brook also departed on the first ball of the last over courtesy of a brilliant backward running catch from the South African captain Aiden Markram which sealed the match for South Africa.