A sensational spell of spin bowling by left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi helped South Africa pip Nepal by one run in the 31st match of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. The defeat turned out to be a major blow for Nepal as they are now out of the marquee tournament.
Shamsi's Player of the Match (POTM) performance was the key that helped the Proteas defend just 115 runs. He claimed the wickets of Kushal Bhurtel, Rohit Paudel, Dipendra Singh Airee and Aasif Sheikh to finish with figures of 4/19 in his four overs.
Chasing just 116 to win, Nepal lost two wickets in quick succession and were reeling at 35/2 in 7.4 overs. However, a 50-run stand between Anil Sah and Aasif brought much-needed stability to Nepal's dwindling batting order. Anil scored 27 off 24 balls with the help of two boundaries and a maximum and fell to Aiden Markram while attempting a slog sweep on the fourth delivery of the 14th over.
Anil's wicket gave South Africa the opening they were eyeing and they clawed their way back into the game. Shamsi came back into the attack to dismiss Airee and Aasif (42 off 49 balls) to apply relentless pressure on Nepal's batting order.
Nepal needed 16 to win off the last two overs and had five wickets in hand. Anrich Nortje came to bowl the penultimate over of the game and took a wicket on his second delivery but just when it seemed that the game was slipping away from Nepal's grasp, Sompal Kami hammered a six over midwicket to bring the required run rate under control.
The Asian nation needed eight off the final over but a superb spell of fast bowling by Ottneil Baartman snatched the win from Nepal's grasp.
Earlier in the day, South Africa were put into bat and their batters struggled to adjust to the demands of the surface at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent. Reeza Hendricks top-scored for the Proteas with 43 off 49 deliveries but never really got the kind of support he needed from the other end.
Leg-spinner Kushal Bhurtel was the star for Nepal with the ball as he accounted for four South African batters and finished with figures of 4/19. He was ably supported by Airee who claimed a three-wicket haul.
Tristan Stubbs played a cameo (27* off 18 balls) to help South Africa cross the 100-run mark and post 115 on the board.
