Tabraiz Shamsi in place of Ottniel Baartman proved to be the lucky change for South Africa as they edged out West Indies in a rain marred match to reach the semi finals of the T20 World cup 2024. Chase then slog-swept Tabraiz Shamsi for a six to lay the platform for the West Indies.
However, Tabraiz Shamsi and Maharaj turned things around in this phase by picking crucial wickets. Mayers was the first to depart, which was followed by Rovman Powell getting stumped. From 86/2, they slipped to 94/5 in quick time when Sherfane Rutherford edged Shamsi to slip.
Pitch Report and Toss
Nice breeze coming across. 67 meters and 61 meters square boundaries. 74 meters down the ground. One of the things you are guaranteed at this venue is consistent bounce. There are runs on offer. This is a very good cricket pitch and that’s what you want for a game as crucial as this one.
The pitch in Antigua generally has good pace and bounce, and is more conducive for shot-making than some of the other venues. It should be to the liking of both batting lineups which have plenty of firepower, but the bowling remains a concern, especially for the West Indies.
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bowl with one change bringing in Tabraiz Shamsi for Ottniel Baartman. West Indies skipper Rovman Powell batting first also made one change bringing in Kyle Mayers for Johnson Charles.
An eventful beginning to West Indies Powerplay.
South Africa made the ideal start. Shai Hope, who had decimated the United States in the last game was out for a duck this time as he hit one straight to the fielder in the very first over. The breeze then accounted for Nicholas Pooran’s wicket as he got caught at long off in the second over of the game. With two wickets in the first seven balls, South Africa seized early control of the game. Aiden Markram was also getting the ball to turn square on occasions, signaling a tough evening for the home side.
However, in the same powerplay, West Indies managed to recover. Kyle Mayers, playing his first game after coming into the squad in place of Brandon King, took time to settle down but Roston Chase showed immediate intent. He swept Keshav Maharaj for a six to race to 20 and Mayers at the other end rounded off the powerplay with his first six.
An eventful first 10 overs saw South Africa drop four catches and Markram become just the second South Africa spinner to bowl four successive overs after opening the bowling in a men’s T20I, and that was with two specialist spinners in the XI. Markram shared the new ball with Jansen, and got a wicket with his first ball, as South Africa won the early exchanges with West Indies 5 for 2 early on.
They should have had a third in Jansen’s next over, when Chase, on 12, swiped across the line and hit it straight up. Anrich Nortje had all the time in the world and got under it but could not hold on. Chase added eight more runs and then slog swept Keshav Maharaj to deep midwicket where David Miller could not contend with the aerial ball and the wind and let a difficult chance slip.
Then, Maharaj was at square leg when Mayers, on 13, swept to him and he put it down. But the worst of the lot, from a visual perspective, was when Mayers hit Markram down the ground, Rabada and Jansen converged on the ball and didn’t call and collided into each other. Jansen had to leave the field but returned and Markram finished with 1 for 28 from his four overs.
West Indies lose control in middle overs as Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj applied brakes on West Indies
Another tale of two halves. South Africa kept bowling spin understandably on this surface but both Chase and Mayers kept the scorecard ticking at a steady rate. There were also a few release shots every now and then. Mayers hit a six off Markram straight down the ground that saw a dangerous collision between Kagiso Rabada and Jansen.
Chase then slog-swept Tabraiz Shamsi for a six to lay the platform for the West Indies. However, Tabraiz Shamsi and Maharaj turned things around in this phase by picking crucial wickets. Mayers was the first to depart, which was followed by Rovman Powell getting stumped. From 86/2, they slipped to 94/5 in quick time when Sherfane Rutherford edged Tabraiz Shamsi to slip.
The run-out that made a difference as West Indies got restricted to 135 for 8.
The success of South Africa’s spinners meant Markram had no use of Rabada until the 18th over, making it the latest he has ever bowled in this format. Rabada had played 62 T20Is before this one and had bowled in the first four overs in 61 previous instances. The latest he has bowled before was in the fifth over – also against West Indies – in 2021. He has once before been introduced after the halfway stage, in the 11th over in IPL 2021.
So this was different but still, he had an almost immediate impact. Rabada had seen enough to know pace off was the best option and his first delivery, to Akeal Hossein, could only be dabbed to short third. Hossein and Andre Russell ran but Anrich Nortje picked up and threw quicker and Russell was run-out. Later in the over, Hossein hit a cutter straight back to Rabada, who took a simple catch. His first over cost only one run and held West Indies back from a late surge. He closed out with an over worth 11 runs to keep West Indies to 135.
Chase, who had helped himself to a half-century, was the key for West Indies going into the death overs alongside Andre Russell. However, West Indies received another massive blow when Chase threw it away despite the flurry of wickets at the other end as he tried taking on Tabraiz Shamsi, only to mistime one and get caught.
South Africa went back to pace for the final four overs and Russell gave the home fans plenty of hope by clubbing Anrich Nortje for back-to-back sixes. But his desperate attempt to farm strike against Kagiso Rabada in the following over cost him his wicket as he was caught short of his crease by a direct-hit. The tail dragged West Indies 135 – about 15 short of what they could’ve got had Russell made his ground.
Wickets, Rain, Runs to haunt South Africa Powerplay
Quinton de Kock gave West Indies fans a huge scare in the opening over as he took on Akeal Hossein for three boundaries inside the first four deliveries. But the pendulum swung immediately in the second over as Russell got rid of both the openers. Reeza Hendricks edged a delivery down the leg side to fall for a golden duck whereas de Kock mistimed one to get caught at deep backward square leg.
In another twist, rain arrived to shorten the game as the target got revised to 123 from 17 overs. Post resumption, the pressure on South Africa was released as a result of poor bowling from Hossein who continued to leak boundaries.
Yes, yes, you did. And it delivered. Quinton de Kock took 12 runs off the opening over to get the chase underway but then Russell got hold of the new ball. He strangled Reeza Hendricks down the leg side with his first ball – though the decision needed to be reviewed and reversed after Snicko confirmed the edge – and the had de Kock well caught by Sherfane Rutherford at deep backward square.
But that was not where the early tension ended. At the end of that over, the heavens opened and an almighty shower came down, bringing with it memories of… 1992, 2003, 2015 and many other rain-affected matches that South Africans would prefer to forget. The delay lasted 75 minutes and three overs were lost, reducing the target to 123.
South Africa nudge ahead in the middle overs
While Aiden Markram perished immediately after the powerplay, South Africa’s chances only went up after that dismissal. West Indies were too erratic on an evening where they couldn’t afford to be. Alzarri Joseph bowled a bouncer that went for five wides and South Africa fetched three successive boundaries that came off edges.
Prior to that, Heinrich Klaasen hammered Gudakesh Motie for a six as well. Those boundaries brought the required rate below six. Joseph did give West Indies some hope with a snorter to send Klaasen back to the pavilion but yet again the pressure was released at the other end as Obed McCoy bowled a very poor first over. Joseph and Russell delivered two tight overs to create some pressure and David Miller was the casualty as a result of that as Chase castled him.
We all know T20 matches can change in an over but in a rain-reduced match, that is even more amplified. Heinrich Klaasen provided the game-changing passage of play when he took on Gudakesh Motie and broke the back of the chase to put South Africa on course for victory. Klaasen hit Motie’s first ball into the stands and the last three for successive fours, albeit risky.
He stayed on the back foot and hit Motie aerially towards Chase, who could not reach the chance despite a full-stretched dive at backward point, then glanced him past short fine and edged it past Nicholas Pooran to leave South Africa needing 53 runs off 10 overs and clear the path to the semi-finals.
Nervy SA get the job done to get in the semis
South Africa were at the risk of being swallowed by pressure in virtual knockout World Cup game again as they found ways to mess up. Needing 23 from 24, Tristan Stubbs attempted a slog sweep but only managed to mistime it to give West Indies a way back. Keshav Maharaj made it worse by trying to heave one and get caught at long off.
However, Kagiso Rabada released the pressure with a boundary over extra cover that brought the equation down to 5 off 6. Marco Jansen then delivered the knockout blow as he slammed a six straight over McCoy’s head first ball of that final over to seal the deal
Presentations and Road Ahead
Aiden Markram the winning skipper said: Lot of relief to get through to the semifinal. We would have liked to be a lot more convincing. The wicket was playing nicely after the rain break but we tried to kill the game too early. It put us in a tricky position but happy to get over the line.
We bowled really well, assessed conditions and kept them to a sub-par total. We could have build a partnership after the break and then take it from there, we will take that learning and hopefully not do that same mistake again.
We picked Shamsi to have a mystery spinner against them and immediately saw it spinning, so we wanted to bowl as much spin as we can. If it wouldn’t spun that much then we would have used our pacers, not a lot of times when KG bowls only 2 overs.
We have been doing really well, the bowling unit is firing and as a batting unit it is about when to take the game on. We need to be smart on those situations. I haven’t been following but whoever it might be we have to put our best foot forward.
Rovman Powell the losing skipper said: Credit to the boys for fighting till the end. As a batting group this is a performance we want to forget, we didn’t bat well in the middle overs. We lost wickets in clusters and that always breaks the back of the batting team. It was a commendable effort, the boys believed they could defend 135.
We haven’t won the World Cup or reached the semifinal but we have played some good cricket in the last 12 months. There is a buzz among the supporters about West Indies cricket again and that is something we take away. We really appreciate the support we have got at various venues and the likes on social media.
Tabraiz Shamsi Player of the Match for his 3 wickets said : I’m sweating. I wasn’t even out there. Quite nervy at the end. That’s been the theme of our tournament – we finding a way to win as a team, no matter what the situation is. The people out there, our supporters would probably like bigger wins. But things like this keeps us in check. When the pressure hits, the team has been able to overcome those moments. Last time I played here I went for 50 runs.
There was lots of chatter. I just had to back my plans and got the backing from the coaching staff to come back at the ground where I hadn’t done well. The guys who bowled before me set it up beautifully. From the first game we’ve won it as a team. It’s not about individuals. We’ve got so many match-winners in the squad.
Little bits of contributions here and there are taking us over the line. As a team, that’s the best place to be in. It’s always a one-sided love affair – World Cups, South Africa and the rain. The boys were calm in the sheds. We knew what we had to do.
Now, they’ve (almost) done it all. After an undefeated streak of six matches, five of them far too close for comfort, South Africa have survived a rain-reduced match and successfully chased a tricky target to book the spot in the semi-final of the men’s T20 World Cup 2024. They knocked co-hosts West Indies out in the process and have topped their Super Eight group, which means they are also likely to avoid India in the final four. We’ll say it again: is this their time?
All the evidence points to a change of fortunes for a team that has so long coveted an ICC trophy and equally long, been denied. South Africa are now winning games they should be losing, scrapping like their rugby counterparts, the Springboks – who won the quarterfinals, semifinals and final, each by one point last year – and finding ways to overcome pressure. There’s a new-found tenacity to them and it’s seen them get to a T20 World Cup knockout for the first time in a decade.
Incidentally, when they got to the final four in the 2014 tournament, Aiden Markram had just led the Under-19 team to the World Cup. Now, he finds himself captaining the senior side and he is doing differently and to great success. Markram took the new ball in this match, and bowled himself for a full quota of four overs. He decided to rely on a non-traditional strength: spin.
South Africa had never bowled this many overs of spin in a T20 World Cup match (and only bowled more twice before against Sri Lanka in 2021) and the change of tack worked a charm. Between them, South Africa’s spinners took 5 for 79 in 12 overs.
They were largely responsible for keeping West Indies quiet and for several of the 57 dot balls West Indies faced in their innings – the equivalent of 9.3 overs – and the most at this T20 World Cup. Only an 81-run stand between Kyle Mayers and Roston Chase kept West Indies in the game, and they were the only two batters to get an individual score of more than 15.
And once the tears have dried, West Indies will look to their batting as the major reason they were unable to advance. Their bowlers worked with what they had and had South Africa 15 for 2 in two overs, before the rain came down. They kept at and removed all the recognized batters. Chase’s 3 for 12 and Joseph’s 2 for 25 meant South Africa were always on tenterhooks but at seven down, Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen took it home.
Phew! What is it with South Africa and knockout games in the World Cup? They are never short of drama and action. The openers departed in the second over. Then the rain arrived and halted proceedings for more than an hour; reducing the game to 17 overs and the target to 123, but it changed the conditions drastically.
There was not much help for the spinners and the ball was coming on nicely. Markram threw it away and Klaasen was bounced out after a quick cameo, both to Alzarri Joseph. South Africa were still in control at that stage but the introduction of Chase turned the game as he picked up 3 wickets in 3 overs to bring West Indies right back into it. But Jansen kept his cool and ensured South Africa remain unbeaten in the tournament.
West Indies fought hard. The batters could not put up enough runs on the board and the conditions too changed but the bowlers took it till the final over. And as Powell mentioned there are a lot of positives to take away from this tournament especially the support they got right through. South Africa have had quite a few close encounters in this World Cup and it is unlike them to come out on the right side every single time. Is it a sign that this could be their year.
With that, the campaign ends for the West Indies. It’s been a memorable one for them playing in front of packed crowds at different venues and producing some good cricket but they fell just short of their attempt to reach the semis. South Africa’s seventh straight win in the competition has ensured they join England in the final four. They will now wait for the results from the other group to determine their opponents.