Captain Aiden Markram led from the front first as captain marshalling his troops really well as great bowling kept West Indies down to 176. Aiden Markram was phenomenal and carried his bat to give South Africa a clinical win in the end. They put the West Indies in and after a fiery start from the Windies, South Africa reduced them to 83/7 but Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder led the recovery to take West Indies to 176/8 with Lungi Ngidi picking up 3 wickets while Kagiso Rabada and Corbin Bosch picked up 2 wickets.
In reply, Aiden Markram carried his bat and scored an unbeaten 82 while Quinton de Kock got 47 and Ryan Rickelton made 45 unbeaten runs as South Africa crossed over the line in 16.1 overs. Roston Chase got a wicket to his name but the other West Indies bowlers struggled to get penetration out there in the middle. It was an off day for the West Indies as South Africa are almost through to the semis.
All-Round Bowling Display led by Lungi Ngidi restricts West Indies to 176/8.Â
Put into bat first, Brandon King and captain cum keeper Shai Hope came out to bat for West Indies while Keshav Maharaj opened the bowling for South Africa. The West Indies were quickly off the blocks as they targeted Maharaj from the word go and Hope dealt with him hitting him for runs as 17 came off the first over. Marco Jansen’s next over went for 12 as West Indies were 29 in 2 overs.
But then Kagiso Rabada came to South Africa’s rescue as the first stand put on 29 runs for the first wicket before Shai Hope fell for 16 off 6 balls with one four and two sixes to his name to Rabada. Shimron Hetmyer came out to bat next. Hetmyer was the hero of the last game but fell cheaply as Rabada had two in the over. Hetmyer fell for 2 off 3 balls. Rovman Powell came out to bat next. King and Powell added another 10 runs to the tally before King fell for 21 off 11 balls with 5 fours to his name to Lungi Ngidi. Roston Chase came out to bat next.
Just 2 runs were added to the tally before Chase fell for 2 off 2 balls clean bowled by Ngidi. Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next inside the powerplay. West Indies were rocked but playing too many shots. The Windies were 52/4 in 6 overs. Rutherford and Powell added 17 runs for the 5th wicket before the former fell for 12 off 10 balls with a maximum to his name to Corbin Bosch. Jason Holder came out to bat next.
Another 11 runs were added to the tally before Powell fell for 9 off 11 balls with one boundary to his name to Ngidi. Matthew Forde came out to bat next and played his shots. Just 12 runs were added to the tally before Forde fell for 11 off 9 balls with one four and one six to his name to Corbin Bosch. Romario Shepherd and Holder got together and then got himself in and then slowly accelerated to lead the West Indies recovery. They played and took the game deep.
They accelerated and then tore apart the South African bowling in death overs especially Marco Jansen who went for a bit. Holder showed his class while Shepherd showed his power as well. The duo took West Indies from a precarious position to a decent position. The duo added 89 runs for the 8th wicket before Holder was run out for 49 off 31 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes to his name as he was run out towards the end.
Gudakesh Motie came out to bat next but did not face a ball as Shepherd got a boundary to get to his fifty in 37 balls. West Indies played out their 20 overs and finished with a competitive 176/8 in 20 overs. Shepherd remained unbeaten on 52 off 37 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes to his name. Just 2 extras given by the fielding side.
South Africa bowled really well barring the death overs. Lungi Ngidi finished with 3/30 in 4 overs. Kagiso Rabada bowled well for his 2/22 in 4 overs. Corbin Bosch finished with 2/31 in 4 overs. Keshav Maharaj finished with 0/43 in 4 overs. Marco Jansen finished with 0/50 in 4 overs. This meant South Africa needed 177 runs to win off 20 overs.
Aiden Markram’s unbeaten 82 powered South Africa over the line.Â
Chasing 177 for the win, captain Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock opened the batting for South Africa while Matthew Forde started the proceedings for West Indies. It was the Aiden Markram show from Ball 1 as he tore apart the West Indies bowling from the start. It allowed his opening partner de Kock time to settle in out there in the middle. For the first 3-4 overs, Markram was dominating and de Kock was getting his eye in going at run a ball.
But then after 5 overs, de Kock opened up as the Proteas zoomed past 50 inside 5 and then took the score to 69/0 in 6 overs of powerplay. But the carnage continued even after that. The duo of Markram and de Kock added 95 runs for first wicket in 8 overs. But then Roston Chase came in and struck for West Indies as he removed de Kock on 47 off 24 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name. Ryan Rickelton came out to bat next. He took his time for a bit but then was quick off the blocks.
Markram was unstoppable as he just was in the zone and Rickelton was great as well. West Indies bowled poor lines and lengths and South Africa made a huge statement. They did not want to just win but wanted to make a statement. The Proteas were clinical and Rickelton played his part as well. They aced all the phases from powerplay to the middle phase and were cruising as West Indies just did not have any answer to stop the flow of runs. Rickelton played his part and remained unbeaten on 45 off 28 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name. But it was all about the captain Aiden Markram.
Markram remained unbeaten on 82 off 46 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes to his name and hit the winning runs as well as South Africa cruised to the win by 9 wickets with 23 balls to spare winning in 16.1 overs scoring 177 runs. Just 3 extras given by the fielding side as the game was done and dusted with plenty to spare.
West Indies bowlers had a horrendous day in the field. Roston Chase picked up a wicket and finished with 1/46 in 4 overs. Matthew Forde finished with 30 in 3 overs. Romario Shepherd gave away 22 runs in 2 overs. Jason Holder gave away 31 runs in 3.1 overs. Shamar Joseph finished with 0/24 in 2 overs. Gudakesh Motie finished with 0/24 in 2 overs. So, South Africa win by 9 wickets with plenty to spare. Aiden Markram was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead.Â
So, South Africa makes it 2 wins out of 2 games and are virtually through to the semis. West Indies will have another shot on Sunday night. South Africa faces Zimbabwe in Delhi on Sunday afternoon while West Indies plays India in Kolkata on Sunday night. Coming up next in Group 1 is a must-win clash between India and Zimbabwe. Both needs a win and India needs it more. Zimbabwe with nothing to lose.
Let’s see how the next game pans out for all of us.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: South Africa Off To A Flier In Tricky Chase.