02/26/26 07:47:00
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02/26 07:46 CST Unbeaten South Africa crushes West Indies by 9 wickets at T20
World Cup
Unbeaten South Africa crushes West Indies by 9 wickets at T20 World Cup
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) --- South Africa took a giant leap toward the Twenty20
World Cup semifinals after a dominant nine-wicket win over the high-flying West
Indies on Thursday.
A whirlwind 95-run opening partnership between captain Aiden Markram (82 not
out) and Quinton de Kock (47) in eight overs made short work of the chase. Ryan
Rickelton added 45 not out and South Africa motored to 177-1 in 16.1 overs and
stretched its unbeaten record in the tournament to six games, four of the wins
in Ahmedabad.
"The boys have got used to the conditions here," Markram said.
West Indies put up 176-8 from 83-7.
South Africa will advance if India beat Zimbabwe later Thursday in a must-win
game for both in the Super Eights.
The Proteas play Zimbabwe in their last second-round game on Sunday, when the
West Indies, which lost its first game in the tournament, faces co-host India.
"The way we play our cricket there will be a loss," West Indies captain Shai
Hope said. "The aim was to get it out early. The next game will be a
quarterfinal."
Markram set the tone for the chase by smashing seven boundaries and four sixes
in 82 off 46. De Kock hit four sixes and four boundaries in his 24-ball 47.
Rickelton maintained the express scoring with 45 off 28 balls. He and Markram
shared an unbeaten 80 off 50 and South Africa won with more than three overs to
spare.
Knowing the pitch, Markram said winning the toss was important. The ball nipped
early before the pitched flattened out.
In a frenetic powerplay, West Indies lost four wickets in 10 balls and was down
to 52-4. South Africa also dropped three catches in the first six overs.
Kagiso Rabada (2-22) got a faint edge off Hope and Shimron Hetmyer top-edged a
pull to wicketkeeper de Kock in the third over. Lungi Ngidi (3-30) took out
Brandon King and Roston Chase in the fourth over.
Pacers Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder batted their side to respectability.
Shepherd (52 not out) and Holder (49) lifted West Indies from an embarrassing
83-7 with a remarkable 89-run stand. Shepherd notched his maiden T20
half-century.
Holder and Shepherd pushed the accelerator in the death overs. Holder smashed
Marco Jansen for 23 runs in the 18th over before he was run out in the final
over. Shepherd completed his half-century with an inside edge off the final
ball of the innings but South Africa kept the score under-par by about 50 runs.
"We bowled nicely," Markram said. "A team like West Indies will take the game
to you."
Zimbabwe bowling first vs India
Sikandar Raza won the toss and Zimbabwe opted to bowl against India in Chennai.
Rinku Singh was unavailable and India made two changes: Sanju Samson came in
for Singh and left-arm spinner Axar Patel replaced Washington Sundar.
Zimbabwe made one change; allrounder Tinotenda Maposa was in for wrist spinner
Graeme Cremer.
The Chennai pitch should aid turn.
Lineups:
Zimbabwe: Tadiwanashe Marumani, Brian Bennett, Dion Myers, Ryan Burl, Sikandar
Raza (captain), Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Tinotenda Maposa,
Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava.
India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (captain),
Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun
Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
___
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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