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South Africa is off to a winning start in the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup after the Proteas earned a hard-fought win against the co-host USA in the opening match of the second round of the T20 World Cup and are now just a couple of wins away from confirming their spot in the semi-final of the tournament.
T20 World Cup: South Africa Earns a Hard-Fought Win In Super Eight Opener
The Start
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Put in to bat first after losing the toss South African openers Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks got the team off to a watchful start courtesy of some disciplined bowling from the USA new ball bowlers Saurabh Netravalkar and Ali Khan who did not give any opportunity to the South African batters to free their arms in order to play big shots.
The Shift
The momentum seemed to be going in USA’s favour until Jasdeep came in to bowl. The fast bowler was taken to the cleaners by Quinton de Kock who hit him for 28 runs in an over thereby giving South Africa the momentum that the team was looking for on a batting-friendly wicket in Antigua. That particular over shifted the momentum in South Africa’s favour led by Quinton de Kock who scored a quick-fire half-century, 74 runs off 40 balls to be precise, and was well supported by captain Aiden Markram who also made a significant contribution in the top order with a score of 46 runs off 32 balls as the duo added 110 runs for the second wicket.
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The Comeback
At the halfway stage in the first innings, it seemed like South Africa would get a score of well over 200 runs but that’s when Harmeet Singh struck twice in two balls by dismissing Quinton de Kock and David Miller on successive deliveries helping USA get back in the game. Markram who was the other set batter followed soon after as the USA had a glimmer of hope of restricting South Africa to a below-par total.
The Score
But the pair of Tristan Stubbs and Heinrich Klassen made sure that South Africa crossed the 180-run mark by adding 53 runs for the fifth wicket guiding South Africa to a score of 194-4 at the end of 20 overs. For USA Netravalkar and Harmeet Singh were the pick of the bowlers as the duo picked up two wickets each.
Also Read: T20 World Cup: Three Matches To Watch Out For In Super Eight
The Chase
Chasing a score of 195 runs to win USA got off to a brisk start as the opening pair of Steven Taylor and Andries Gous added 33 runs for the first wicket in 3.3 overs. But as has been the problem with most of the associate nations USA lost two wickets in quick succession and was reduced to 53-2 at the end of the first six overs with Rabada picking up both the wickets. The same story continued in the middle overs as the USA lost half of their side with less than 100 runs on the board courtesy of some good bowling from the South African spinners.
The Fightback
Things were falling apart for the host nation until Harmeet Singh joined Gous in the middle as the duo stitched a much-needed 91-run partnership for the sixth wicket thereby giving USA the hope of causing another upset. But Rabada who picked up three wickets in the match had other ideas as the fast bowlers bowled a magnificent penultimate over giving away just two runs and sealing the match for his country in the process.
