T20 World Cup 2024: South Africa Cliched Victory in USA vs SA First Super 8 Match

T20 World Cup 2024: In world cricket, if there’s one thing you should never do, it’s winning the toss and letting South Africa bat first over proper circumstances. On Wednesday, June 19, at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Aiden Markram’s team defeated the co-hosts USA in the first match of Super 8, giving them a true taste of that defeat. The USA felt they might take advantage of the windy conditions early in the first innings of their Super 8 encounter. Reeza Hendricks’ wicket gave them a good start in the first innings, but when Quinton de Kock took control of the game, things quickly turned into a nightmare.

It is no secret that during the T20 World Cup 2024 group stage, the South African batting team—especially the top order—has faced major difficulties. They got a chance to settle in, and they did, thanks to a fantastic opening-inning 194 runs because of an amazing knock by Quinton de Kock.

De Kock continued on the attack, hitting his fifty in just 26 balls and concluding with an innings of 40 balls and 74 runs. This was de Kock’s best performance in this particular case, and it helped South Africa score an amazing 194 runs. Before this, South Africa’s best batting performance against Nepal was 115 runs.

If not for some fierce batting and bowling from the USA in both innings of the match, South Africa may have won by a truly commanding margin. In the first innings, Saurabh Netravalkar bowled a brilliant stint, taking two wickets and conceding just 21 runs in his four overs. Outside of the powerplay, the USA struggled mightily in the chase but recovered after the tenth over, boldly hitting top bowlers in South Africa off the field.

T20 World Cup 2024: USA vs SA Super 8s Highlights

Andries Gous targeted Anrich Nortje in the match’s opening over, hitting the pacer for 19 runs. Then, spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was completely smashed by Andries Gous (80* off 47) and Harmeet Singh (38 off 22), leading to an overwhelming victory for the South African bowlers.

Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, who had to defend 28 off the final two, kept their cool and dealt a significant blow to the determined USA team, winning by 18 runs.

A noteworthy over was bowled in the 19th over of the second half of the match. Saurabh Netravalkar took first prize, he has grown increasingly recognized in the competition. Netravalkar faced two highly skilled bowlers Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs. Netravalkar nailed both players with his yorkers and gave up just 6 runs after the 19th over to keep South Africa to less than 200 runs.

In the second innings, on the 19th over, it was even more breathtaking. The Proteas looked adrift after Shamsi and Nortje were hammered between the 15th and 18th over. Rabada was aware that he had to perform, and he did it brilliantly, changing his pace just enough to allow two runs to be scored.

This indicated that the USA were going to need to get 26 off the final six balls, whereas previously they thought they could hunt down 28 off 12. Nortje bowled and restricted the USA to 176 runs at a cost of six wickets in the final over of the match.

South Africa’s captain, Aiden Markram, spoke about learning from the game during the post-match address.

We could have improved the margin, but we did make a few cleaners. But after the game, I realized my lesson,” Markram said.

The USA would certainly walk away feeling like they belonged on the world stage, even though they could have lost by 18 runs. After easily defeating the opponents in the first part of the matches on difficult fields in the USA, the team came out dismissing, playing tough cricket against one of the world’s best nations. They continued to stay challenging until the final over of the match.