South African win makes West Indies’ hopes hang by a thread

South Africa's Aiden Markram (C) takes the last run to win the ICC men’s Twenty20 World Cup cricket match between South Africa and West Indies at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on 26 October  – AFP 

By Champika Fernando in Dubai

Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen set up a crushing eight-wicket win over West Indies after their bowlers had restricted the strong-looking West Indian batting line-up for a below-par score on a good batting track at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.

While the win put South Africa in contention for a semi-final spot with three games to go, it put the defending champions in a difficult position, needing to win all three remaining games against Sri Lanka, Australia and Bangladesh to have any hopes of a semi-final berth.

South Africans, who lost their opening game against Australia by five wickets put on a spirited show to beat the West Indians, a team that has many T20 specialists.

After their bowlers restricted them for an under-par 143, the batters dominated the chase with Markram and van der Dussen driving them home quite easily. 

Skipper Temba Bavuma was run out in the last ball of the first over. Opener Reeza Hendricks (39 off 30) and van der Dussen then rebuilt the innings, sharing 57 runs between them, with Hendricks taking on the bowlers while van der Dussen anchoring the innings.

Hendricks departed when the total was on 61 as South Africa ended the first half of their chase at 66/2.

Markram, who has been in great touch in recent months, together with van der Dussen shared an unbeaten partnership of 83 to seal a brilliant run chase.

Markram remained unbeaten on 51* off 26 balls with four sixes and two boundaries while van der Dussen struck 43 off 51 in their 54-ball stand.

West Indian bowlers failed to impress, either by taking wickets or by containing the batsmen by bowling tightly, which made life easy for the South African batters. Markram was ruthless in his unbeaten knock and reached his half-century with a big heave over mid-wicket off Andre Russell as South Africa reached the target with 10 balls to spare.

After put in to bat first, West Indies had scored only six runs at the end of the third over, with part-time spinner Markram and pace sensation Kagiso Rabada keeping the West Indies batters quiet, bowling a tight line and length before Evin Lewis unleashed in the fourth over.

Lewis carved a slow one from Rabada over backward point to the boundary and then hammered the next ball over the long-on boundary. The left-hander then let loose, scoring as many as 18 runs off Markram’s third over, hitting his last three balls for two massive sixes and a boundary. The first was smashed over mid-wicket to the second row for a massive 92m six and followed it up by hammering the next ball over the long on boundary. Markram under pressure, bowled the next ball too short and Lewis was quick to smash it over mid-on as they recovered well to post 43 runs off the powerplay.

Anrich Nortje, brought into bowl the last over of the powerplay, induced a nick off Lendl Simmons in the penultimate ball but wicket-keeper Heinrich Klassen, who replaced Quinton de Kock, after the latter pulled out of the game in protest over Cricket South Africa’s decision to force its players to take a knee and raising a fist over the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, dropped a straightforward chance.

When West Indies reached 65 at the end of the halfway mark, Lewis reached his 50 with a magnificent slog sweep over deep square leg off Tabraiz Shamsi.

He smashed Kehav Maharaj over mid-on for his sixth six in the innings before the left-armer had the last laugh when Lewis was caught off at deep mid-wicket by Rabada. Lewis departed for 56, one run more than the entire West Indian team fetched against England last Saturday at the same venue.

While Lewis was on song, his opening partner Simmons was struggled to score runs, putting pressure on the rest of the batting unit. He was finally cleaned up by Rabada with a clever slower ball that toppled his leg stump, ending his miserable innings of 16 off 35 balls. Six balls later, Nicholas Pooran walked back to the dressing room when he was caught by a running David Miller at long off, off the bowling of Maharaj.

Pooran (12), Chris Gayle (12) and Kieron Pollard (26) attempted to accelerate at the death overs, but South African bowlers kept hurting the West Indians by taking wickets. They scored 48 runs off the last five overs but lost five wickets along the way, ending their innings on 143/8. Dwaine Pretorius was the most successful bowler, picking Gayle, Pollard and H.R. Walsh, but it was Nortje who outsmarted the rest with a brilliant spell of seam-bowling to contain the strong West Indian batters.

Meanwhile, both teams took a knee before the start of the game in support of BLM movement, which saw de Kock, who has never supported the gesture in past, ruling himself out of the game.

According to a directive by the CSA, all players were to take the knee in a united and consistent stance against racism.

CSA said, in a statement, it would await a further report from team management before deciding on the next steps. All players are expected to follow this directive for the remaining games of the World Cup.