In a Super Eights encounter impacted by rain on Monday, South Africa defeated the West Indies by three wickets to advance to the T20 World Cup semi-finals and eliminate the hosts.
South Africa stammered to 110-7 after Roston Chase claimed three wickets in their chase of a revised 123 off 17 overs, but they managed to reach their mark when Marco Jansen struck the opening ball of the last over for six.
After winning the toss, South Africa limited the West Indies to 135-8 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, thanks to a 3-27 effort by player of the match Tabraiz Shamsi.
All-rounder Chase top scored with 52, partnering with Kyle Mayers for 81 runs (35 off 34 balls) at the third wicket. His off-spin took 3-12, giving the West Indies hope.
After smashing the last six off Obed McCoy, Jansen’s undefeated 21 helped the Proteas win at 124-7.
“The last time I played here I went for 50 runs and there was a lot of chatter going around,” Shamsi commented.
“I was happy to come back and perform my role, but credit as well to the guys who bowled before me because they set it up beautifully.”
The left-arm wrist-spinner, who was brought in to replace seamer Ottneil Baartman, received great assistance from captain Aiden Markram (1-28) and fellow slow bowler Keshav Maharaj (1-24).
Anrich Nortje dropped Chase on eleven, but he took full advantage of the situation, hitting three fours and twice cleared the ropes.
After the hosts lost to 5-2 in the second over, his collaboration with Mayers enabled them to come back.
After Mayers was out of the game due to a sliced catch at deep cover by Shamsi, South Africa was able to contain the West Indies with a succession of wickets.
When the score was 117-6, Nortje atoned for his previous miscue by running out the threatening Andre Russell, who had hammered two sixes in his 15 off nine balls.
West Indies skipper Rovman Powell stated, “We will do everything in our power to forget this batting performance.”
We had a very good bowling effort. The lads truly gave it their all to protect that total when we indicated at the halfway point that we would give it everything we had.
During the intense chase, winning captain Markram acknowledged feeling anxious.
“There’s a lot of relief at making the semi-finals but we’re not going to be brainwashed by that because we would have liked to be a lot more convincing,” he added.
“Maybe we attempted to end the game too soon, but thus far in the competition, that has been the dominant theme.
“We get ourselves into tricky positions and then have to battle to get over the line.”
South Africa and England are Super Eight Group 2 semi-final qualifiers.
