South Africa Champions held their nerves by clinching the bowl out against West Indies Champions after their rain-reduced 11-over game ended in a tie. Rain dominated the proceedings initially delaying proceedings for 2 hours 45 minutes. Once the game got underway, it was a thriller nobody expected.
Put into bat first, West Indies lost early wickets before Lendl Simmons’ 28 off 21 balls and Chadwick Walton’s unbeaten 27 off 21 balls took the score to 79/5 in 11 overs. Aaron Phangiso picked up a couple of wickets in his 2/19 in 3 overs. A wicket apiece for Hardus Viljoen, JJ Smuts and Duanne Olivier.
Chasing a revised target of 81 in 11 overs under the DLS method, South Africa lost Impact Player Richard Levi and captain AB de Villiers early. Hashim Amla hung in there for his 15 off 18 balls while Sarel Erwee scored a breath-taking 27 off 18 balls while JP Duminy scored an unbeaten 25 off 12 balls to take the game to bowl out. Sheldon Cottrell and Fidel Edwards picked up a couple of wickets apiece while Sulieman Benn picked up a wicket and bowled a miserly spell. Then the bowl out happened in which South Africa hit 2 out of 5 attempts while West Indies missed their first 4 attempts to lose the match.
Aaron Phangiso’s 2/19 keeps West Indies to 79/5
Put into bat first, West Indies lost their skipper Chris Gayle in the opening over to Hardus Viljoen. The fuller length delivery on the off-stump line which Gayle tried to hit it too hard and drove away from the body. All he did was chipping it straight to mid-off as the Universe Boss went for 2 off 6 balls. Lendl Simmons welcomed Wayne Parnell by hitting a six off the second ball that he bowled. Dwayne Smith was given a reprieve when the slip fielder dropped the catch.
Simmons looked to be aggressive and took on Parnell in the 4th over as West Indies ended the powerplay of 4 overs at 25/1. Aaron Phangiso came into the attack and was nicely swept by Smith for a boundary. But Phangiso had the last laugh as he got rid of Dwayne Smith off the fifth ball of the 5th over. The length delivery shade outside off, Smith cut it hard but failed to keep it along the ground. The captain ABD at cover point moved to his right and took a good tumbling catch as Smith fell for 7 off 11 balls. Phangiso made it 2 in 2 balls as Kieron Pollard fell first ball.
Phangiso caught Pollard right in front of the stumps. Length delivery that pitched outside off and angled in with the arm, Pollard lunged forward and played down the wrong line as the ball gets past the inside edge and hits the front pad as the finger was raised. Lendl Simmons was now joined by Chadwick Walton.
The duo played out the next few overs cautiously with Simmons surviving a close stumping check off Phangiso. Simmons managed to get a boundary away off Phangiso just to break the shackles. Walton joined the party by hitting a massive six off JJ Smuts. But Smuts eventually had a wicket to his name as he got rid of Lendl Simmons for 28 off 21 balls as the pressure of the current run rate got the better of him.
Smuts bowled a length delivery outside off-stump to which Simmons got down on one knee and slog swept it away. But he mistimed it to Hashim Amla at wide long-on who took a sitter and made no mistake. Dwayne Bravo came into bat next. Bravo survived a run out check in the 9th over as the TV umpire had a look and adjudged him NOT OUT. Duanne Olivier came into the attack and was hit for a boundary by Walton before Bravo hit him for the maximum. But Olivier had the last laugh as he dismissed Bravo for 8 off 5 balls.
Olivier bowled a fuller length delivery angled on the middle stump, Bravo moved his front leg across and whacks it away. He got the height and not the distance as Amla at long-on made no mistake with the reverse cup. West Indies were 69/5 in 10 overs when Ashley Nurse walked out to bat at 7.
Chris Morris came to bowl the final over and was dispatched for the maximum by Walton. Runs came via wides and singles in that over other than that as West Indies Champions finished with 79/5 in 11 overs. 10 runs came off the final over. 6 extras given by the fielding side.
Aaron Phangiso was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa with figures of 2/19 in 3 overs. Hardus Viljoen bowled a miserly spell upfront finishing with 1/6 in 2 overs. A wicket for JJ Smuts in his 1/12 in 2 overs and for Duanne Olivier who picked up 1/13 in his only over he bowled. South Africa’s target was revised and adjusted to 81 in 11 overs.
Sarel Erwee & JP Duminy blitz ties game before South Africa clinches bowl out
Impact Player Richard Levi came to open the batting with Hashim Amla for South Africa. Levi started with a bang smashing Sulieman Benn for a boundary to third man fence. But his time at the crease was short-lived as Sheldon Cottrell dismissed him for 5 off 7 balls. Yorker length at the stumps which shaped back in after pitching. Levi charged and missed the flick to see his stump uprooted. Cottrell with the salute celebration as the first one was down for South Africa.
Captain AB de Villiers came out to bat and got off the mark with a triple. But ABD was soon prized out by Sulieman Benn. Benn bowled a length delivery outside off-stump which AB slapped it straight into the hands of Dwayne Smith at covers for an easy catch. Sarel Erwee came out to bat at 4 to join Amla at the crease. Erwee made his intentions clear by tearing Fidel Edwards apart as he hit a boundary and then a maximum off consecutive balls in the 4th over. At the end of the powerplay of 4 overs, South Africa were 23/2 chasing 81 for the victory.
Ashley Nurse and Dave Mohammed came onto bowl and Erwee was the aggressor of the two as he got a boundary away off Mohammed. Dwayne Bravo was introduced into the attack after 6 overs of the innings as the South African duo were laying the foundation for the finish. Sheldon Cottrell came back and was hit for a boundary by Amla before the fast bowler got his revenge. The length delivery across the off-stump, Amla looked to heave it away but got an inside edge to fly into Walton’s gloves for a simple catch. Amla departed for 15 off 18 balls.
In the very next ball, we saw a run out happening as Sarel Erwee was short of his crease as Cottrell showed great footballing skills to run the dangerous and set batter out. Suddenly, two set batters were dismissed as South Africa were reduced to 50/4 in 8 overs. JP Duminy and JJ Smuts came out to replace Amla and Erwee.
JP Duminy decided to press on the accelerator as the required rate was climbing up. Duminy hit a maximum off Dwayne Bravo over deep forward square leg. Sheldon Cottrell was also not spared as Duminy hit him for a maximum in the 10th over. South Africa needed 9 off the final over with Duminy and Smuts at the crease. Fidel Edwards was given the charge to bowl the final over.
Duminy survived a dropped catch as Dwayne Smith made a mess off it at deep midwicket with the batters getting a couple of runs. He hit the next ball for a boundary to virtually seal it with 2 needed off 3 balls at this stage but there was more twist instore. Fidel Edwards came back and clean bowled JJ Smuts for a duck. Length delivery straight as an arrow at the stumps, Smuts missed his flick across the line and sees the ball crash onto the stumps. Morne van Wyk came out to the middle with 2 needed off 2 balls.
Edwards picked him up first ball as the game turned on its head with Duminy off strike. The good length delivery on off-stump, Morne looked to go over mid-off but miscued it straight into the hands of Nurse for a simple catch as Edwards was on a hat-trick with Wayne Parnell coming in to face the last ball. Parnell managed to sneak in a leg bye off the final ball as the appeal from Edwards was turned down by the umpire. Match was tied and according to tournament rules, a bowl out was to follow. South Africa finished with 80/6 in 11 overs. Just one extra given by the fielding side.
Sheldon Cottrell was the pick of the bowlers for the West Indies with figures of 2/16 in 3 overs. Fidel Edwards came back well in the final over and finished with 2/21 in 2 overs. Sulieman Benn bowled a miserly spell of 1/6 in 2 overs. The rest of the bowlers went wicketless and was on the expensive side. There was a run out in the innings as well by Cottrell.
After this, the bowl out followed. South Africa won the toss and decided to bowl the first five balls. They missed the stumps on the first three attempts but hit the next two with JJ Smuts and Wayne Parnell finding the target and hitting the bullseye. West Indies needed to hit the stumps on 3 out of their 5 attempts and unfortunately, they missed out on their first four attempts as South Africa won the contest and collected the full points.
It was a thriller in Edgbaston, with South Africa coming out on top in this rain reduced game. For his 25* off 12 balls. JP Duminy was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
The England-Australia game after this fixture was called off after 17.1 overs of the first innings due to rain. Plus, due to unforeseen circumstances, the India-Pakistan clash has been cancelled which was scheduled on 20th July i.e. Sunday. So, the WCL takes a bit of a breather before the action resumes on Tuesday at County Ground, Northampton. India Champions who are the defending champions will take on South Africa Champions in the first game on Tuesday and which will be followed by England Champions up against West Indies Champions.
It’s still early stages of this tournament and a lot of high-octane cricketing action still to come. The legends will be keen to dazzle in the United Kingdom. Let’s see how the tournament shapes from hereon.
Also Read: ENG-C vs PAK-C : Mohammad Hafeez’s Turbulent Half Century & Bowlers Win A Thriller