T20 World Cup Super 8 clash: South Africa beat England by 7 runs
The Proteas are undefeated in the competition with six straight wins.
South Africa beat England by seven runs in their second Group 2 of the Super Eight clash of the T20 World Cup 2024 at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on Friday.
England started slowly to the run chase after their last match performer Phil Salt (11 off 8 balls) was sent back in the second over.
Jos Buttler (17 off 20 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (16 off 20 balls ) put on some resistance but lost wickets at the crucial stages. Keshav Maharaj had the better of both the batters.
Moeen Ali (9 off 10 balls)also couldn’t put the pressure as the run rate went creeping. He tried to play a big shot but was removed by Ottneil Baartman.
It looked like England come back in the chase with Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone forming a crucial partnership of 78 runs. Brook took on the South African bowlers while Livingstone attacked in patches.
Livingstone managed to score 17-ball 33 before being dismissed by Kagiso Rabada
Meanwhile, Brook reached to his first T20 World Cup fifty but couldn’t finish the chase as he departed courtesy of a brilliant catch by skipper Aiden Markram. He made 37-ball 53 runs. The defending champions were restricted to 156/6.
Rabada and Maharaj bagged two wickets each for the Proteas.
After being put to bat first, Quinton de Kock gave a flying start to South Africa The wicketkeeper-batter slammed a 22-ball fifty, the joint-fastest of the ongoing competition.
Meanwhile, Reeza Hendricks (19 off 25 balls) was unable to build on his slow start. He was the first batter to be dismissed by leg-spinner Adil Rashid.
De Kock departed owing to England skipper Jos Buttler’s acrobatic catch. He made a 38-ball 65 with the help of eight boundaries.
England returned to the game with Buttler once again contributing but this time with a run out at the non-striker’s end to remove Heinrich Klassen (9 off 13 balls).
Rashid removed skipper Aiden Markram (1 off 2 balls). After that David Miller took the charge, scoring a crucial 28-ball 43.
South Africa managed to put 163/6 on the scoreboard in 20 overs.
Pacer Jofra Archer was the top bowler for the defending champions bagging figures of 3/40.
England’s captain Jos Buttler speaking post-match said:
“I think we lost it in the powerplay, De Kock came out with a lot of intent and he really took on the powerplay and we couldn’t match that. We were 20 behind them and the wickets slowed up, we brought it back well.
“I think they bowled well in the powerplay but De Kock’s innings was the difference.
“Still a good wicket but slower than expected, I thought we came back well with the ball after how well De Kock played.
“Brook and Livingstone had a fantastic partnership there to take us close and at one stage looking like favourites but it’s never as simple as that in T20 cricket and congratulations to South Africa for closing it out.
“We were happy chasing 160 but De Kock’s innings was the difference.
“We were really good, the powerplay was the best time to bat and De Kock recognised that and took calculated risks.
“We’re still in the competition, we played well but couldn’t get over the line. We look forward to the next one.”
South African’s Quinton de Kock (65 runs off 38 balls) said:
“We’ve seen some night games here but it doesn’t play the same as it does in the day, a couple of us knew that.
“My plan was to bat as long as I can and score runs. The wicket was good with a bit of bounce.
“I just carry on and take it game by game. It’s nothing different, it was just a new game.
“We bowled really well, especially in the powerplay, that’s the best time to score.
“We controlled it really nicely, we were pretty solid and a very good effort from us.”
