CONTINUED to collect points in the T20 World Cup, the country’s national men’s cricket team defeated the West Indies by nine wickets on Thursday afternoon.
The victory of the Proteas in this match which was held at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in the city of Ahmedabad, India, means that the local team is the only one that remains unbeaten in this competition.
After winning the toss, the captain of the Proteas, Aiden Markram, chose to bowl first on this ground where he was playing for the fifth time since the start of the tournament.
The South Indian bowlers put the West Indies players at a disadvantage, taking successive wickets. It looked like they were going to end it early when seven players came out and they scored only 83 runs.
However, the bravery of Romario Sherperd and Jason Holder helped the West Indies finish their overs and collect 176 runs, having lost nine wickets.
The Proteas started batting fast, Markram and Quinton de Kock were hitting the ball out of the field.
Although De Kock was finally out, Ryan Rickleton came and continued where he left off, the local team reached 177 runs with one player out, with 23 balls left.
Markram led the way with 82 runs off 46 balls.
“I’m happy with the way I played. Apart from the fact that I’m the captain of the team, if you’re batting first it’s on your shoulders to get the next ones down. Quinton and Rickleton and I are committed to getting runs early in every game. Fortunately, everything went well in this game,” said Markram.
“I have to praise our bowlers for the good job they did in removing the West Indies players. Although they tried to come back towards the end but they worked, they ensured that we were not chasing a very high number.”
The Proteas topped Group 1 with four points from two games. They will play the final of the Super Eight against Zimbabwe on Sunday at 11.30 am.
He will come to them having already booked a place in the qualifiers.
The match between India and West Indies on Sunday at 3.30 pm will determine which team will advance against the Proteas.