South Africa beat holders England in high-scoring thriller

GROS ISLET: Quinton de Kock’s swashbuckling half-century, followed by a combined bowling display led South Africa to beat defending champions England in a high-scoring ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 thriller on Friday.

Chasing a daunting 164-run target, England managed 156/6 in the allotted 20 overs despite Harry Brook’s half-century.

The defending champions had a dismal start to the pursuit as Kagiso Rabada removed in-form Phil Salt (11) in the second over with 15 runs on the board.

Jonny Bairstow, who was promoted to bat at No.3, put together a cautious partnership with skipper Jos Buttler.

Buttler (17) and Bairstow (16) added 38 runs off 30 deliveries before both fell victim to Keshav Maharaj.

England then sustained another blow to their pursuit as Moeen Ali walked back after scoring a mere nine, resulting in them slipping to 61/4 in 10.2 overs.

Following the slump, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone knitted a fighting partnership and glimmered a ray of hope for England.

The duo added a quickfire 78 runs to the total until Livingstone fell victim to Rabada in the 18th over. He scored 33 off just 17 balls, laced up with three fours and two sixes.

Livingstone’s dismissal dented England’s march towards the total and also the flow of runs. The defending champions then needed 14 runs off the final over.

South Africa had a perfect start to the eventful final over as Anrich Nortje removed England’s batting mainstay Harry Brook on the first delivery.

Brook top-scored for England with a 37-ball 53 with the help of seven boundaries.

England’s bowling all-rounder Sam Curran fought valiantly with an unbeaten 10-run cameo but his efforts went in vain as Nortje held his nerves calm under pressure to steer South Africa to glory.

For South Africa, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj bagged two wickets each while Ottneil Baartman and Anrich Nortje struck out a batter apiece.

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Sent into bat first, South Africa registered a decent total on the board, courtesy of de Kock’s half-century and David Miller’s late fireworks.

The Proteas had a flying start to their innings with de Kock dominating England bowlers from the word go.

He decimated Jofra Archer in his first over and smashed 21 runs.

Quinton de Kock soon continued his baton charge and brought up his blazing half-century in the seventh over, conceding just 22 deliveries.

He received a lifeline in the ninth when Mark Wood spilt his catch in the deep off Adil Rashid.

But England finally got the much-needed breakthrough in the next over as Moeen Ali dismissed Reeza Hendricks, who found it hard to get going and made a scratchy 19 off 25 deliveries.

South Africa sustained a major blow to their batting expedition when their mainstay Quinton de Kock fell victim to Jofra Archer in the 12th over.

The left-handed batter remained the top scorer for South Africa with 65 off 38 deliveries with the help of four fours and as many sixes.

England bowlers forced comeback with de Kock’s dismissal and troubled new South Africa batters with tight bowling and were rewarded with Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram’s wickets in quick succession.

The back-to-back wickets resulted in South Africa slipping to 113/4 in 14.4 overs.

David Miller then joined force with Tristan Stubbs and bolstered the team’s total with a brisk 42-run stand which lasted with the former’s dismissal on the first delivery of the final over.

Miller remained a notable contributor for South Africa with a 28-ball 43 which featured four fours and two sixes.

South Africa then lost another wicket in the final over of the innings as Marco Jansen perished for a golden duck on the next delivery.

Stubbs, however, remained unbeaten with a cautious 12.

Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers for England with three wickets while Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali made one scalp each.

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