South Africa kicked off their Super 8 roster with an 18-run win over USA in Antigua, their fifth win at this T20 World Cup which equals their longest winning sequence at the tournament over the years. Despite putting 194/4 on the board, the USA ran them close and were into the game up until the start of the 19th over, when South Africa stepped up once again and came out on the right side of a close-ish game.
The difference: Kagiso Rabada
It might not have been deemed enough to win the Player of the Match award, which instead went to Quinton de Kock, but Kagiso Rabada stood out in South Africa’s successful defence with bowling figures of 3 for 18. He was into the wickets with the new ball, bowling around 145 km/h and wasting little time in finding the right length on the pitch. And with the old ball, he bowled a match-turning 19th over which not only saw the end of a threatening 91-run stand but also only two runs scored off it.
South Africa
Powerplay: De Kock tees off
Phase score: 64/1 (4x4s, 5x6s)
On what’s been slow and low deck so far in this World Cup, both sides brought in an extra spinner as South Africa were sent in to bat. And with the new ball coming onto the bat well, Quinton de Kock laid into the opportunity and raced to 41* off 18 balls at the end of six overs. It helped South Africa rack up their third highest PowerPlay score in T20 World Cups. A major chunk of those runs came in a Jessy Singh over that went for 28 runs, the third most expensive over in this World Cup which saw de Kock hit three sixes. All that carnage in the PowerPlay came despite Saurabh Netravalkar bowling his two overs inside for only 7 runs along with picking the wicket of Reeze Hendricks, caught at mid-off.
Middle overs: A tug of war between SA and USA
Phase score: 77/3 (7x4s, 2x6s)
This phase of play began with a burgeoning second-wicket stand between de Kock and Aiden Markram. The opener got to his first fifty of this World Cup edition, getting to the milestone off 26 balls, the fourth fastest this edition. He went on to score 74 off 40, his highest score in T20 World Cups, before Harmeet Singh had him caught in the deep off a full toss. David Miller perished off the next ball, caught and bowled, as a double-wicket over helped USA stage a comeback of sorts in the middle overs. They would add another wicket in the form of Markram, who was caught at third man off Netravalkar’s bowling after an impressive knock of 46 off 32.
Death overs: Klaasen, Stubbs steer score into the 190s
Phase score: 53/0 (2x4s, 3x6s)
South Africa didn’t lose a wicket in this phase but weren’t allowed to break free like they would have liked either. Netravalkar bowled four dot balls in the 19th over which eventually went for only six runs, but Klaasen was able to muscle away three sixes, two of them against pacers, to help SA pinch 15 runs in the final over and take them to a power total. Aiden Markram, speaking at the innings break in a sideline interview, said he would have taken a total of 194 at the start of the match.
USA
PowerPlay: USA are there and thereabouts
Phase score: 53/2 (5x4s, 3x6s)
It took one delivery to lay bare USA’s approach. A short and wide ball from Marco Jansen was thrashed to the boundary by Steven Taylor, who would go on to hit a flurry of boundaries and whistle off the side to a positive start. Hits straight down the ground came easy until Kagiso Rabada hit the hard length and had Taylor caught at mid-off. Nitish Kumar walked in and played the exact same way, bringing up USA’s fifty in five overs. It took a special over from Rabada to cap to slow them down in the last over of PowerPlay with the wicket of Nitish, who flicked one straight to deep square leg, unable to clear the fence with the wind this time around.
Middle overs: Regular wickets hurt
Phase score: 69/3 (3x4s, 4x6s)
With Nitish gone, only 12 runs came in overs 7-9, with Keshav Maharaj difficult to get away on a pitch that showed signs of slowing down. Corey Anderson broke the shackles with a huge six over deep midwicket but lost his leg stump to 91 mph delivery from Anrich Nortje next ball. Andries Gous went about steadying an end and was 24 off 21 when he lost Shayan Jahangir lbw to Tabraiz Shamsi and decided to break free. Couple of sixes against Nortje delivered him to a fifty off only 33 balls, keeping USA just about hopeful about the run-chase, especially with a flourishing partnership between Gous and Harmeey Singh that had taken them from 76/5 to 122/5.
Death overs: Close but no cigar for USA
Phase score: 54/1 (3x4s, 4x6s)
73 runs off the last five overs weren’t exactly impossible. The pitch had played better than many expected and Shamsi, despite the turn and bounce on purchase, proved to be an easy target. The left-arm legspinner conceded 35 runs in his two overs in this phase, 24 runs out of them coming in sixes. It took an unbelievable over from Rabda for SA to seize the match, the 19th over not just going for 2 runs but also witnessing the end of a 91-run stand between Gous and Harmeet. Gous remained unbeaten on 80* off 47 but it ultimately wasn’t enough in the end.
Brief Scores: SA 194/4 (de Kock 74; Netravalkar 2-21) beat USA 176/6 (Gous 80*; Rabada 3-18) by 18 runs
What next?
Both teams just have a day’s break before their next fixture. USA travel to Barbados to take on West Indies whereas South Africa play England in St Lucia.
