South Africa defeated West Indies in the semi-finals; They survived the rain-shortened match and successfully chased down a tough target to book a place in the semi-finals. South Africa 124 for 7 (Stubbs 29, Klassen 22, Jansen 21*, Chase 3-12) beat West Indies 135 for 8 (Chase 52, Meyers 35, Shamsi 3-27) by three wickets via DLS method.
Now, they’ve (almost) done it all. After a six-match unbeaten run, five of which were very close to comfort, South Africa survived a rain-interrupted match and successfully chased down a tough target to reach the semi-finals of the Men’s Twenty20 World Cup 2024. They knocked out co-hosts West Indies in the process and topped their Super Eight group, meaning they avoided India in the final four. We say again: Is this their time?
South Africa defeated West Indies in the semi-finals.
All evidence points to a change in fortunes for a team that has been deprived of an ICC trophy for a long time and has been deprived for so long. South Africa must now overcome their rugby rivals the Springboks – who won the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final last year, to a point – and find a way to overcome the pressure. South Africa defeated West Indies in the semi-finals.
They are re-energized and set to enter the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup for the first time in a decade.
Incidentally, Aiden Markram led the Under-19 team at the 2014 World Cup when they reached the final four of the tournament. Now, he sees himself as the captain of the senior team and is on a different and great path to success. Markram bowled the full quota of four overs with the new ball in this match. He decided to rely on a non-traditional force: spin.
South Africa defeated West Indies in the semi-finals.
South Africa have not bowled so much over-spin in a T20 World Cup match (and have bowled only twice before against Sri Lanka in 2021) and the change of tack has done an interesting job. Among them, the South African spinners took 5 wickets for 79 runs in 12 overs.
They kept West Indies quiet and accounted for some of West Indies’ 57 dot balls in their innings – the equivalent of 9.3 overs – and the most in this World T20. A stand of just 81 runs between Kyle Myers and Roston Chase kept the West Indies in the game and they were the only two batsmen with individual scores above 15. South Africa defeated West Indies in the semi-finals. And when the tears dry, the West Indies will see a big reason why their batting hasn’t improved. Their bowlers gave it their all and South Africa were 15 for 2 in two overs before the rain came down. They install and remove all approved batteries. Chase’s 3 for 12 and Joseph’s 2 for 25 meant South Africa were always on the tenderhooks but Kagiso Rabada and Marco Janssen lost seven batsmen.
Markram enjoys it but the fielding becomes sloppy.
South Africa defeated West Indies in the semi-finals.
South Africa took four catches in an eventful first 10 overs and Markram became the second South African spinner to bowl four consecutive overs after opening the bowling in the men’s T20 and it was the two specialist spinners in the XI. Markram shared the new ball with Jansen and took a wicket on his first delivery as South Africa won by 2 for 5 against the West Indies.
They should have been third in the next over from Jensen, when Chase, 12, swiped across the line and hit straight up. Chase added eight more runs and then slog swept Keshav Maharaj to deep midwicket where David Miller could not deal with the aerial ball and the wind and missed a tough chance. South Africa defeated West Indies in the semi-finals.
Then, Maharaj was at square leg when Meyers swept him for 13 and he dropped it. But the worst was from a visual perspective, when Myers hit Markram down the ground, Rabada and Jansen converged on the ball and collided with each other without a call. Jansen had to leave the field but returned and Markram finished with 1 for 28 from his four overs.
Missing… KG Rabada
South Africa defeated West Indies in the semi-finals.
The success of the South African spinners meant that Markram did not use Rabada until the 18th over, his last bowling in the format. Rabada had previously played 62 T20Is and bowled the first four overs in 61 cases. He previously bowled the last ball in the fifth over – also against the West Indies – in 2021. He was introduced once earlier in IPL 2021 at the halfway stage of the 11th over. South Africa defeated West Indies in the semi-finals.