In their first T20 World Cup second round match on Wednesday, South Africa upset the valiant United States by 18 runs thanks to a scorching half-century from Quinton de Kock.
At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, the Super Eights stage began with the Proteas batting first and restricting the USA to 176-6 after amassing 194-4 from their 20 overs.
But when Andries Gous and Harmeet Singh put up 91 runs for the sixth wicket in the first round, the USA—who had earlier shocked previous champions Pakistan—were on the verge of yet another upset. De Kock, the opening batsman and top run scorer in the format for his country, achieved his 15th T20 international fifty off 26 balls.
In the end, he was removed for 74 from 40 balls after hitting seven fours and five sixes, easily the greatest score he had scored all tournament.
The 31-year-old’s greatest score in four prior World Cup appearances at the crease was just 20 against Sri Lanka.
Might be time for bowlers to take ‘a bit of medicine’: Reece Topley
It was good to spend some time in the middle today since we’ve got some challenging wickets. Towards the end, the USA exerted pressure on us. After South Africa had struggled to make runs on the slow wickets of the US in the first round, De Kock declared, “It was a great game.”
USA captain Aaron Jones said that it was a “difficult outcome to accept.”
“At times, we lacked discipline when bowling. We can defeat any cricket team in the world if we improve as players. However, we must exercise far greater discipline,” he stated.
Along with hitting his tournament-best 46 from 32 balls, which included four boundaries and a six, was skipper Aiden Markram. After scoring 110 runs for the second wicket, Markram and De Kock enabled their side to reach 101-1 in the first ten overs.
The United States regained control of the game when slow left-armer Harmeet removed both fellow dangerman David Miller and captain De Kock in the span of two balls. Saurabh Netravalkar, an outstanding fast bowler who finished with 2-21 from his four overs, ended Markram’s innings.
For the fifth wicket, Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs put up an unbeaten fifty-three. After hitting 50 in the first five overs of their reply, the United States had a great start to their innings before finding it difficult to withstand the pace-spin onslaught of the Proteas.
After taking out Steven Taylor and Nitish Kumar, Kagiso Rabada dealt a serious blow to American aspirations when Jones was out without a run. Jones, who overcame spinner Keshav Maharaj to De Kock on Wednesday, lasted only five balls despite smashing an unbroken 94 in the first-round victory against Canada.
After hitting a six over midwicket, former New Zealand international Corey Anderson struck a fast twelve before Anrich Nortje scattered his stumps one delivery later.
After stuttering to 73-4 after 10 overs, the USA’s hopes were abruptly revived by openers Gous and Harmeet.
In the 18th over, Gous hit three sixes off leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, leaving his team requiring 28 off 12 balls.
But Rabada finished with 3-18, giving up only two runs off the 19th over and removing Harmeet as well. Harmeet scored two fours and three sixes in his 22 balls of batting.
Gous scored 47 runs off of 47 balls, including five fours and five sixes. Within his four overs, Shamsi amassed fifty runs.
The other teams in Group 2 of the Super Eights are West Indies and reigning champions England.
Group 1 is made up of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Australia, and India.
Read More: South Africa Clinch 18-Run Win Over Spirited USA In T20 World Cup Super Eight Clash
