The Super Eight stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 is all set to begin with the clash between South Africa (SA) and the United States of America (USA). Both sides put in excellent performances in the group stages of the tournament. South Africa(SA) are currently unbeaten in the tournament, whereas the USA have lost one game.
Both teams will be looking forward to playing in North Sound after batting was a struggle in the games in America. The Americans would be forgiven for pinching themselves. Few would have expected them to reach this stage of the men’s T20 World Cup. Yet there they are, among the elated eight teams who remain in the running and not one of the disappointed dozen who exited after the group games.
SA vs USA Previous Performances
South Africa were part of Group D of the T20 World Cup 2024, and they won every game that they played and became one of the first teams to qualify for the Super Eight stage.
On the other hand, the USA have been the dark horse of the marquee tournament. Drawn in Group A of the tournament, the USA faced off against the likes of India, Pakistan, Ireland, and Canada. However, defeating the likes of Pakistan and Canada and putting up a fight against India, the USA made it to the Super Eight stage.
The co-hosts won two of the four matches that they played in the group stages and recorded one loss, with their final group game producing no result. The clash against South Africa will take place at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, on Wednesday, June 19, and it could prove to be a daunting task for the side to topple the in-form South Africa.
South Africa, on the other hand, come in with a 100 percent win record but they have been far from convincing. The Proteas were forced to scrap through to secure wins against Bangladesh, Netherlands and Nepal to make it to the Super 8s. However, they still have a lot of firepower in their lineup in the form of Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, skipper Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen.
SA vs USA Head to Head
This will be the first T20I between the two sides as USA will look to lock horns with South Africa (SA)
SA vs USA Pitch Report
It is expected to be an overcast morning in North Sound, but there is no rain forecast in the area on Wednesday. The teams batting second have won three out of four games here, with the surface good for batting. At the World Cup, Australia and England blew Namibia and Oman away respectively, but Oman hit up 150 against Scotland, which was chased down in 13.1 overs, and the rain-hit England vs Namibia game had 206 runs in 20 overs.
A hot, humid day with a slight chance of a shower in the evening. Namibia were bowled out for 72 here and Oman for 47, but they were facing Australia and England.
SA vs USA Big Picture Can USA slay another giant
It’s Super Eight time. Before the start of the T20 World Cup 2024, the ICC had allotted pre-decided seedings to the eight top teams. A2 was given to Pakistan. The match timings were set according to what would be prime time in Pakistan and the rest of the subcontinent. But then a USA-sized blow hit Pakistan in their very first match and the tournament hasn’t been the same since.
So USA, in their first T20 World Cup appearance, are now A2, and will kickstart the Super Eight stage against South Africa. As both teams head over to North Sound in Antigua – USA aren’t quite at home anymore, note – they would hope for two things: better batting conditions and no rain.
South Africa are entering the Super Eight stage with an all-win record. But after their win over Sri Lanka in the first game, the rest could have gone either way. They found themselves at 12 for 4 chasing 104 against Netherlands, only scored 113 for 6 and won by four runs against Bangladesh, and scraped through by a solitary run against Nepal.
South Africa have lost 11 wickets and are averaging a mere 9.63 in the powerplay this World Cup – the third-lowest behind Uganda and Papua New Guinea. And none of their top-order batters have a strike rate of 100 in the first six overs.
Having said that, South Africa played three of their four games in New York, where batting conditions were far from ideal. And in hopefully better conditions in North Sound, they will hope the top order can finally flex their muscles.
USA, in foreign shores after playing 12 straight home games (of which two were abandoned), will hope for the fairy tale to continue. They showed their batting muscle in the opening game against Canada, and then restricted Pakistan to a middling total in the second game. Even against India, they had the opposition top order in a bit of early strife.
The likes of Aaron Jones, Saurabh Netravalkar and Monank Patel have shown they belong to this level of cricket. Now for them to give it another tilt and try to take another Full Member down.
SA vs USA In the spotlight – Saurabh Netravalkar and Anrich Nortje
Left-arm quick Saurabh Netravalkar has been a star for USA in the powerplay, where he’s picked up three wickets and gone at an economy of 4.57. He’s found swing and shape consistently and even accounted for the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma already. Coder by day, fast bowler by night, he has had to extend his leave at his day job by a few more weeks and will want to make it count against a South Africa top order that is struggling for form.
Anrich Nortje had a forgettable IPL 2024, where he picked up just seven wickets in six games and went at 13.36. But, he’s hit his straps from the get-go at the T20 World Cup. He’s bowled with pace, he’s been accurate, and, more importantly, has picked up wickets. After four games, Nortje is the joint-second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with nine wickets, and has bowled at an economy of just 4.37. His bustling pace might be useful against the USA batters who might not have faced such high speeds too often.
SA vs USA Stats that matter
- Nortje has picked up eight wickets in the middle phase, the second-highest after Adam Zampa’s nine
- USA have the highest run rate against spin of all the teams in the tournament – 11.04; Jones has been striking at 263.33 against spinners in the World Cup 2024 (80 off 30 balls)
- South Africa have the second-best death-overs economy in this tournament – 5.27
- This will be the first T20I between the two sides
- A win for South Africa will be their fifth straight in the tournament, more than they have achieved consecutively in any other edition of the T20 World Cup.
- The US have won three of the eight T20Is they’ve played against ICC full members.
SA vs USA Probable Playing 11
South Africa : Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ottniel Baartman, Tabraiz Shamsi
USA : Monank Patel (c), Steven Taylor, Andries Gous, Aaron Jones, Nitish Kumar, Corey Anderson, Harmeet Singh, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Jasdeep Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan
SA vs USA Fantasy XI : Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, Anrich Nortje, Ottniel Baartman, Monank Patel, Andries Gous, Aaron Jones, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan
SA vs USA Match Prediction
In the upcoming match between these two teams in the T20 World Cup 2024, South Africa will have the upper hand over the USA, but they can’t afford to be complacent in playing against an associate nation on the big stage. South Africa are the favourites to win the match. They have more depth in the bowling unit than USA and that could prove to be the deciding factor between the two teams.