South Africa and UAE were involved in a tussle at the Arun Jatley Stadium in New Delhi and surely it was nothing short of entertainment for the fans as they showed up in majority. It was by far the least competitive battle of all the battles in the t20 world cup because the Proteas’ all pace attack was too hot to handle as UAE’s fragile batting skittled for a mere 122 in 20 overs.
Apart from Alishan Sharafu no other batsmen looked comfortable against South Africa’s bowling and Aiden Markram’s decision to chase was proved right once again. The fact that the Proteas went with an all-pace attack meant that it was nothing more than a practice match and South Africa having assured a super 8 spot already had nothing to lose.
The overcast condition gave test match like vibe to the game but the boundaries were short which made range hitting easy. The former finalists made wholesome changes to the squad benching Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller and Lungi Ngidi the leading wicket taker of the tournament.
Instead included Anrich Nortje, Cobin Bosch, Jason Smith, George Linde, and 17 year-old Kwena Maphaka. Proteas’ disciplined bowling kept UAE under control and its forgettable world cup campaign ended on a sour note.
Ruthless and Relentless Bowling by South Africa
South Africa dominated the match with the ball. Bowling in the right areas and exploiting the favourable conditions the bowlers put pressure on the UAE batting. Certainly, there was a massive difference between the teams but UAE as usual failed to put up a fight in this tournament. Cobin Bosch the tall right arm baller made great use of his height to pick three wickets of his four overs and was equally supported by Anrich Nortje.
South Africa’s bowling ripped through the raw batting of UAE and the Arab nation just could not stop the wickets from falling, yes, they had a few good partnerships but the score was below par in the modern t20 era.
The weather forced the Proteas to go with only one spinner in Linde but he too showed his class by tangling UAE’s batting. UAE’s lack of intent cost the game and the assault never came from the batsmen. Even during the final two overs of the first innings, they could only manage nine runs which summed up the fragility in the batting and the tournament story for them. South Africa conceded 13 extras compared to UAE’s six but they were ruthless with the ball and sustained the pressure on the UAE batsmen.
UAE’s Poor Batting
UAE was below par with the bat as the entire batting collapsed for 122 in twenty overs and the highest score was of 45 made by Alishan Sharafu at number three. apart from him, none of the batsmen looked settled. The openers Ayush Sharma and Muhammad Waseem who was the captain fell cheaply for 13 and 22 respectively and the rest just fell like a pack of cards. undoubtedly it was a poor batting display by them, especially the middle order containing Sohaib Khan, Syed Haider, and Muhammad Arfan who registered single digit scores making it worst for the team.
UAE managed only 44 runs in the powerplay and lost two wickets, even in the middle phases it could not accelerate much.
Explosive Batting
Throughout this world cup South Africa’s batting has been its trump card. Along with the captain Aiden Markram, left hander Quinton De Cock has been in sublime touch. De Cock has scored 118 runs in four matches with a strike rate of 126.88 but their captain is leading the chart with 178 runs in four matches he is only behind Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan.
South Africa faced rain interruption during the chase but capitalized the powerplay scoring 56 in the first six overs. Ryan Rickleton and Dewald Brevis stayed together for a useful partnership pushing UAE out of the game.
Areas to Work for South Africa and Next Assignment
Even though South Africa achieved a comfortable victory over UAE it still has certain improvements before the super 8 clash against India on Sunday. The middle order especially, Dewald Brevis, has struggled this tournament. In spite of enough chances his conversion rate is an issue and it needs to be fixed in time.
Brevis is well aware of his form and will be desperate to turn things around. South Africa will face India in the super eight clash on Sunday and are high on confidence with an unbeaten group stage record. India like South Africa is unbeaten with the last match against Netherlands to be played today.
The super eight games will be as exciting and feisty as the group games and the teams will be hungrier to scrap for a win. India and South Africa both head in the super eight in great spirit and are teams to watch out for.
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