Anrich Nortje kept his nerves to defend 14 runs as South Africa maintained their unbeaten streak in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8s with a nail-biting seven-run victory over England in a last-over thriller in St Lucia. With their second consecutive win in the Super 8 stage, South Africa moved to the top of Group 2 and stepped closer to securing a spot in the semi-finals.
Defending 164, South Africa managed to dismiss the top three, way before the halfway mark in the chase. The pacers started well, with Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen troubling the batters for runs. Rabada got rid of Phil Salt (11) and Marco Jansen provided solid support, maintaining tight lines. England narrowly avoided losing two early wickets when Heinrich Klaasen couldn’t hold onto Jonny Bairstow’s chance. Despite this, South Africa’s pacers kept the scoring in check during the powerplay. Keshav Maharaj then struck in his second over, dismissing Bairstow and leveling the contest. Throughout, the Proteas’ fielding was top-notch, perfectly complementing their bowlers’ efforts. Klaasen redeemed himself shortly off Keshav Maharaj’s bowling as the South Africa spinner compounded the pressure with quick wickets of Jonny Bairstow (16) and Jos Buttler (17). Mooen Ali was the next to depart as Ottneil Baartman dismissed him for 9.
With England reeling at 61 for 4 after 10.2 overs, Harry Brook joined hands with Liam Livingstone for a superb 78-run stand. Brook scored a brilliant fifty while Livingstone departed for 33 after taking down Baartman. Brook looked unstoppable and scored a resiliently fought 50. Liam Livingstone put Baartman to the cleaners and fetched 21 runs from his over before getting out eventually. Baartman completely missed his lengths, starting with three full tosses that were eagerly capitalized on Livingstone. Kagiso Rabada stepped up strongly to his reputation and struck gold in the very next over and dismissed Livingstone and gave just 4 runs off that over. Marco Jansen then came clutch and delivered an excellent penultimate over. It was all left to Anrich Nortje with the mission to defend 13 runs off the final over. Nortje got the important wicket of Brook on his first ball but conceded a boundary but bounced back and covered pretty well in the latter stage of the final over, restricting the English to 156 for 6.
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Earlier, the South African batting line-up faltered after a strong start by Quinton de Kock as England bowlers restricted the Aiden Markram-led side to 163 for six in the Super 8 match. Quinton de Kock continued his superb run with the bat for South Africa, playing a blazing 68-run knock off 35 balls, including four boundaries and four sixes. De Kock’s aggressive batting took the scoring rate to nearly 10 runs per over for the first half of the innings. However, England’s disciplined bowling and sharp fielding efforts ensured regular wickets, stifling the Proteas’ momentum.
De Kock launched a brutal assault on the English bowlers, particularly targeting Jofra Archer. The South African opener collected 21 runs off Archer in a single over, utilizing the pacer’s speed to flick a six over fine leg and smash powerful hits to midwicket. Despite his aggressive start, De Kock found little support from the other end. England’s breakthrough came in the 10th over when Reeza Hendricks, struggling for momentum, attempted to charge down Moeen Ali, only to be caught by Harry Brook. Heinrich Klaasen’s promotion in the batting order did not work out for South Africa as an alert Jos Buttler affected a superb run-out. Archer, initially on the receiving end of De Kock’s onslaught, had his revenge with the help of a stunning catch by Jos Buttler. De Kock’s attempt to cut a short ball was brilliantly intercepted by Buttler, diving to his left.
South Africa’s innings lost further steam as Adil Rashid bowled Aiden Markram, leaving the Proteas reeling at 113 for four by the 15th over. Amidst the fall of wickets, David Miller provided some resistance, scoring a resilient 43 off 28 balls, including four boundaries and two sixes. His late charge helped South Africa surpass the 150-run mark. Despite the promising start, South Africa’s innings ended at 163 for six, which seemed below par given De Kock’s explosive beginning.