South Africa extended their winning run to six games with a thrilling seven-run win over England in the crucial T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 fixture in Gros Islet on Friday, June 21. With two wins in their first two Super 8 games, South Africa find themselves on the verge of securing the semifinal berth.
Quinton de Kock registered back-to-back fifties as South Africa posted a challenging total of 163 at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium. England struggled in the initial stages but took the game to the wire only to fail to chase down 21 runs in the last two overs.
The defending champions England lost the first four wickets on just 61 inside 11 overs but made a stunning comeback to take control of the game in the death overs. Harry Brook's fifty and a quickfire cameo from Liam Livingstone put the Three Lions in the favourites category but the Proteas shone very late in the game to earn two big points.
After being forced to bat first, last game's hero de Kock gave the Proteas another flying start by smashing a 22-ball fifty, the join-fastest in this edition. However, playing conditions proved tough for the batters as the rest struggled to score freely.
Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaaseh and Aiden Markram lost their wickets cheaply but David Miler's 43 off 28 balls knock took South Africa to 163/6 in 20 overs. Quinton top-scored with 65 runs off just 38 balls while Jofra Archer bagged three wickets for 40 for the English side.
Chasing a tough total, England lost in-form Phil Salt in the second over of the innings. Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow started well to add 28 runs for the second wicket but both failed to convert a good start into big scores. But Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone dragged England from 63/4 in 11 overs to a winning position of 139/4 in the next six overs.
However, the pace trio of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje bowled three defining overs by conceding just one four combined and restricted the Three Lions to 156/6 in 20 overs.
England still remain favourites to secure a semifinal berth having already beaten West Indies by a big margin and take on the USA in their next and last Super 8 game.
T20 World Cup 2024, Super 8 Group 2 Points Table
| Teams | M | W | L | NR | Points | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.625 |
| England | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.412 |
| USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -0.900 |
| West Indies | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1.343 |
South Africa Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman.
England Playing XI: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley.
