SA into the semis; WI knocked out
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 their spot in the semi-finals. In the process, they knocked co-hosts West Indies out 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 2014 tournament, Aiden Markram had just led the under-19 team to the age-group 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 were worked with what they had and had South Africa 15 for 2 in two overs, before the rain came down. Chase's 3 for 12 and Josephs' 2 for 25 kept them in it but even with South Africa seven down, West Indies were unable to pull off a miracle.
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And that you would think is that!
5 needed off 6 balls
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Maharaj falls with 13 to get
So there's been a conversation about whether Keshav Maharaj should bat higher and on the evidence of that, my answer is a firm no. South Africa need just 13 runs, there's absolutely no need to go for a big shot and he has tried to take on Chase and fallen.
You'd still think its a bit late for West Indies, but it is getting mighty close.
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And what about where this leaves West Indies?
They didn't qualify for the ODI World Cup in 2023, didn't get to the Super 12s in 2022 and have not made a T20 World Cup knockout round since they won the tournament in 2016. So to say they will be disappointed with this is an understatement of note.
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Crunch time
Alzarri Joseph has a big over to come and this is what's needed:
19 needed from 18 balls
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When last did South Africa reach a T20 World Cup semi-final?
Ten years ago!
That's right. The same year Aiden Markram captained the under-19 side to the age-group World Cup win.
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Can Jansen finish it?
He had that nasty collision in the field with Kagiso Rabada but he is able to bat, and has come out to replace David Miller. This is the last recognised batting pair: Stubbs and Jansen and they are 29 away.
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SA 34 away
34 required off 42 balls
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Joseph strikes back
Is there a twist? Yes, says Alzarri Joseph as he bangs one in short at Klaasen, who tried to fend it off but gets it high over Nicholas Pooran, who runs backwards to take a stunner.
Klaasen has looked the most assured of the South African batters, so that's a big wicket but South Africa still only need 46 from 54 balls.
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Klaasen puts SA in front
He's known as one of the best players of spin in the world and he is showing it when it matters most. Heinrich Klaasen has broken the back of the chase with this over. Gudakesh Motie's has cost 20 runs and that may well be what puts South Africa in the semis.
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Joseph gets Markram
He was the pick for bowler to watch in the preview, because of the five-for he took against South Africa last March. Now he has got perhaps something more special - Aiden Markram's wicket at a key moment in the chase.
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We have a match!
Five overs have been bowled which means that we will have a winner and a loser irrespective of whether it rains more or not. The DLS par score at the end of this over, with two wickets down, is 37. South Africa are on 41 for 2 awhich means if it rained now, they would win the match and go through to the semi-finals. No rain though and we play on.
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This is something to keep an eye on.
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Markram's World Cup
While he has been phenomenal in the field, Aiden Markram will feel he owes the team some runs.
His scores so far: 12, 0, 4, 15, 46, 1.
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11.45 local time restart, 3 overs lost
Play will resume in 18 minutes from the time I type this and South Africa will have to bat for 17 overs. Their target is 123 so that means they will need 108 more runs in 90 balls. The Powerplay is reduced to five overs.
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DLS scores
We havent stared losing overs yet but we're about seven minutes away from that, so here are your DLS par scores. Remember par means that for South Africa to win its +1.
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Scenarios for the restart
Here's the deets we all want:
Local time now is 11pm.
We start losing overs at 11.21.
And if we need three more overs to get a game in the latest we can start is 12.38pm. So that's an hour and 38 minutes from now.
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De Kock departs and the rain arrives
South Africa have lost their second wicket - and it's the big fish. Quinton de Kock doesnt get hold of the pick-up shot and Sherfane Rutherford takes a good, sliding catch at deep mid-wicket. But there's a shower blowing through, the brollies are up, the covers are on and it may just be time for my morning cuppa.
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But Reeza's lean-run continues
It's a first-baller for de Kock's opening partner who has not got going at this World Cup.
Hendricks' scores: 4, 3, 0, 43, 11, 19, 0.
And its Andre Russell with the breakthrough. He has got Hendricks caught down the legside and gives Russell the most wickets for West Indies at T20 World Cups. He has 28.
Incidentally, Anrich Nortje achieved the most wickets for a South African at T20 World Cups but went wicketless in this game - the first time in 16 T20 World Cup matches that he has not taken a wicket.
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De Kock gets South Africa underway
Quinton de Kock has identified the early period as the best for run-scoring and he is not holding back. Three boundaries to get South Africa underway and Akeal Hosein has not quite had the same impact as the South African spinners.
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SA need 136 for a semi spot
The Antigua crowd has come out in full support of West Indies but I don't know if they'll be too happy with that. Their side have been limited to 135, mostly by South Africa's spinners. It's not as easy pitch and there's some turn but an unbeaten South Africa will fancy their chances of making the semis.
And as far as permutations go: West Indies need to win by 56 or more runs to top the group, so they will need to restrict SA to 79 or lower
Join us for the second half in a bit.
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Hello Stranger
Kagiso Rabada will bowl the 18th over.
This from our statsguru Sampath:
"Kagiso Rabada has played 62 T20Is before today and was introduced inside the first four overs of the innings on 61 instances. The latest he was introduced was in the 5th over vs WI in 2021 at St George's.
Rabada was introduced after the halfway stage, only once in the 205 T20s played before - in the 11th over for DC vs KKR in IPL 2021."
And he has had immense success. Andre Russell was run out off his first ball and Akeal Hosein handed him the simplest of chances off his fifth. West Indies are 118 for 8 with two to go.
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SA spinners have WI all tied up
South Africa have bowled more overs of spin than this: 14.1 and 14 in consecutive matches v Sri Lanka in 2021 but you'd probably say we'll remember this more. Not only is it the most overs of spin they've bowled in a T20 World Cup but it was an excellent, strangling job done by Aiden Markram, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi. This is their collective return.
5 for 79 in 12 overs (econ: 6.58)
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Another sharp catch from Markram
He did it against England when he dismissed Harry Brook in the match-turning catch of the game and now he has done it again, at slip. Aiden Markram has taken a sharp catch low down to dismiss Sherfane Rutherford for a duck. West Indies are in trouble on 94 for 5 after 14.
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Fifty for Chase
He was dropped on 12 and 20 and he has made good. Roston Chase has his first T20 World Cup half-century, off 39 balls.
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Where's KG?
He hasn't bowled yet and we're 12 overs into the game. He did collide with Jansen, who is back on the field, btw, but did not appear to have done any damage. Perhaps not needed quite yet as Tabraiz Shamsi has got rid of Kyle Mayers and broken an 81-run stand with Roston Chase.
Interestingly, Rabada has never bowled later than the 5th over in T20Is.
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Funky first 10
Feels like a lot has happened in these first 10 overs - especially considering its only gone 3am where I am, but let's take stock.
Given that West Indies have only lost two wickets, they'll probably feel they're a touch under-par runs wise. They could, of course, be many more down after South Africa put down not one, not two, not three but FOUR catches. Only Pakistan and Australia have dropped more.
Aiden Markram has also taken the unusual step of bowling himself out early on and is only the second SA spinner to bowl four over straight after opening the bowling in a men's T20I, after JP Duminy in 2017 vs Bangladesh.
Exhale. 10 to go.
69 West Indies score after 10.
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Jansen goes down
Lord above. It's another drop and this has done Marco Jansen a dirty. He has collided with Kagiso Rabada on the boundary, as Mayers miscued a chance as he tried to go downtown. There's noise, all right, but it didnt seem like anyone called for it and the two fielders crashed into other. Jansen has walked off by himself but I suspect they will test for concussion. Jansen still has two overs to bowl and Rabada hasn't bowled at all - though Rabada looks okay.
Probably worth noting that ball ended up going for six and it was in an over that marked only the third time in his T20I career that he has bowled a full quota of four overs. So Shamsi and Rabada have yet to bowl and Nortje was only introduced in the ninth over.
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Drop, Drop, Drop
It's unusual for South Africa, who have a catching efficiency of close to 90% according to a graphic I saw pop up on the telly, but they've put down three chances here so far. And the wind seems to be a factor in one of them.
Roston Chase was given a life on 12, and that was Anrich Nortje just misjudging.
Then the wind took Chase over the fence where David Miller was unable to get to the ball on time.
And Kyle Mayers was put down by Keshav Maharaj, who has just about every finger strapped up.
All told, South Africa have dropped eight catches at the tournament.
Markram's first-over record
Aiden Markram has 11 T20I wickets and...
8 the number of times Markram has taken a wicket in his first over
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And now Markram strikes
Well, well, well...
Two specialist spinners? Hold my beer, says Aiden Markram.
The South African captain decided he would bowl himself first up and Nicholas Pooran, the dangerous Nicholas Pooran, tried to take him on. He has only found Jansen at long-off. Markram has struck with his first ball. The Antigua crowd, who are seeing West Indies for the first time this tournament, have gone silent.
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Jansen gives South Africa Hope
There's swing upfront for Marco Jansen and more importantly extra bounce and he has given South Africa an early breakthrough. Shai Hope, who scored 82* in West Indies win over USA, has been dismissed for a duck. He was tempted by some width and tried to drive over cover but found Tristan Stubbs. South Africa are absolutely pumped. They've won the early exchange.
Mayers v South Africa
Apart from his experience in the SA20, here's Kyle Mayers v South Africa - look at those starts he got recently.
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SA toss and bowl
Aiden Markram has decided to chase in South Africa's must-win game against West Indies, in anticipation of the wicket "not getting worse," as the evening goes on. In fact, he hopes it will get better but admitted that South Africa have yet to put together the perfect game. And ... South Africa have gone back to their two spinner combination. So no Ottneil Baartman and Tabraiz Shamsi is in.
Rovmann Powell also wanted to bowl first but hopes West Indies would be able to adapt quickly on a ground they know well. They've done what we suspected and brought Kyle Mayers into the XI, but not at the expense of Shai Hope. Johnson Charles, who found form when West Indies toured South Africa in early 2023, has been left out.
West Indies: 1 Shai Hope, 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Rovman Powell (capt), 5 Andre Russell, 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Obed McCoy, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Gudakesh Motie
South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markram (capt), 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Anrich Nortje
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Selection choices?
There's at least one facing each team:
South Africa will need to decide on whether to use a second specialist spinner, like they did when they played USA at this venue, or to keep a fourth seamer on hand which boils down to picking between Tabraiz Shamsi and Ottneil Baartman.
West Indies have a similar choice and will be looking at one of Romario Shepherd or Roston Chase. Their decisions may also be complicated by the possibility of playing Kyle Mayers, who came into the squad for the injured Brandon King, and knows the South Africans well from his time in the SA20. But Shai Hope's unbeaten 82 against USA could keep him in the XI for now.
Not long until we have the answers to these questions. We'll find out in 15 minutes.
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Knockout time... already
Good morning/afternoon/evening - depending where in the world you're joining us from.
It's quarterfinal time at the T20 World Cup even though there were no quarterfinals scheduled. How lucky are we?
The equation is simple: Whoever wins this match between co-hosts and two-time champions West Indies and perennial wanna-be champions South Africa (that name's gonna stick now) will advance to the semi-finals. England, after they were all but written-off following their wash-out against Scotland, became the first team to book a place in the final four after they dominated USA earlier today (or yesterday, depending on your time zone). They chased 115 inside 10 overs, which also gave their net run-rate a hell of a boost. So if South Africa win and move to six points, they will top this group but if West Indies win, England could top the group depending on NRR. That's quite some turnaround for the defending champions.
Let's take a look at the points table from this group.
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