In a thrilling and rain interrupted match South Africa secured a crucial win against West Indies to set in stone their name in the T20 World Cup semi-finals. South Africa snatched victory from the jaws of defeat despite being in a strong position but this time they found a new match winner in the form of Marco Jansen.
1.Tabraiz Shamsi’s Stifling Spin Creates Havoc Against West Indies
Left-arm spinner for SA Tabraiz Shamsi played an important role in restricting the batting lineup of the opposition West Indies. His perfect bowling with accurate line and length with cunning variations yielded three crucial wickets, keeping the Windies in check for runs in the first innings.
Skipper Aiden Markram’s decision to bowl 4 overs back to back with the new ball did wonders for the Proteas. Markram got the priced wicket of the swashbuckling left handed batter Nicholas Pooran which put the Men in Maroon on backfoot. Markram was seen having constant interactions with the bowlers and the decision to bowl 12 overs of spin changed the complexion of match.
2.Adapting to the DLS Challenge
Rain disrupted the match which forced for a revised target of 123 runs in 17 overs for South Africa. The Proteas displayed flexibility in adjusting their chase strategy effectively. Tristan Stubbs and Heinrich Klaasen showed class in the chase with hitting the ball hard with impressive strike rate. With five runs required for victory in the final over all Marco Jansen displayed nerves of steel, smashing a six off the very first ball to seal a dramatic win for South Africa.
3.Aiden Markram’s Calculated Captaincy
Markram strategically placed fielders at deep backward square leg and third man to restrict boundaries from the hard hitting WI players in the first innings. There are still concerns over the batting form of Aiden Markram who has not scored a single significant knock for the team and with Semi Finals around the corner, the skipper needs to step up
With his experience and expertise he prioritised rotating strike during the chase which helped the team get those quick one to twos in the power play to make the difference in the game. It won’t be wrong to say that the Proteas is way too much reliant on Quinton de Kock for scoring runs in the powerplay overs and to set the stage on fire and now the management would be thinking of dropping Reeza Hendricks who is finding new ways to get out