At the Arnos Vale Stadium in St. Vincent on Friday, South Africa pulled off a thrilling one-run victory in their last Group D encounter of the T20 World Cup, despite a serious scare from Nepal. The Nepalese were horribly short at 114 for seven as Gulshan Jha was run out off the penultimate ball while trying to single off Ottneil Baartman to force a super over. They needed eight runs off the final over in pursuit of a modest score of 116 for a surprising upset win.
“We were nowhere near our best tonight,” South Africa’s relieved captain Aiden Markram remarked after the match. “Very grateful to have got the win.”
“There will be a lot of lessons for us to learn when we look back on the game over the coming days.
“First and foremost, we had a really difficult time because of the way Nepal bowled it. They placed a great deal of pressure on us.
In T20 World Cup, After the Proteas were reduced to 115 for seven batting first by leg-break bowler Kushal Bhurtel (4 for 19) and off-spinner Dipendra Singh Airee (3 for 21), Aasif Sheikh (42) and Anil Sah (27), together for 50 runs at the third wicket, brought the Nepalese within striking distance of a result that would have kept their hopes of qualifying for the Super Eight stage of the tournament alive.
This T20 World Cup, Opening batsman Sheikh dismissed Tabraiz Shamsi’s first threat in just the second over of the innings after he was dropped on one to a caught-and-bowled opportunity by pacer Kagiso Rabada. However, the left-arm wrist-spinner returned for a final over in the 18th over of the innings, taking both Sah and Sheikh in finishing with the excellent figures of four for 19.
After that, Anrich Nortje bowled Kushal Malla in the 19th over to tip the scales in favor of South Africa, who just held on to win in the face of excruciating anxiety.
After South Africa’s captain, Rohit Paudel, won a crucial toss and put the Proteas in, Sandeep Lamichhane, who was refused a visa to enter the United States, remained wicketless through four overs of the country’s innings. However, his sheer presence appeared to uplift his colleagues.
While opener Reeza Hendricks managed to give the innings some stability with a topscore of 43 off 49 balls (five fours, one six), none of the South African top-order was able to stay on top of the bowling. The team was already guaranteed a spot in the Super Eight phase of the tournament and fully expected to close out the group campaign with a fourth win in as many matches.
Throughout the innings, Nepal’s bowlers were at their best, and only Tristan Stubbs’s (27 not out off 18 balls) late effort gave them cause for concern. Bhurtel then ended the innings by taking the wickets of Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada in consecutive balls.
Nepal captain Paudel stated, “I think I am very proud of the unit, especially the way we bowled and batted.”
“I felt our fight was excellent. We’ll be on the opposite side if we play more games similar to this.”
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