South Africa took a giant leap toward the T20 World Cup semi-finals with a dominant nine-wicket win over the high-flying West Indies on Thursday.
A remarkable 89-run stand between Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder saw the West Indies rally from 83-7 to post a defendable 176-8 after 20 overs.
But a whirlwind 95-run opening partnership between captain Aiden Markram (82 not out) and Quinton de Kock (47) in eight overs made short work of the chase.
Ryan Rickelton added 45 not out and South Africa motored to 177-1 in 16.1 overs and stretched its unbeaten record in the tournament to six games.
South Africa could top Group 1 in the Super 8s if they beats Zimbabwe on Sunday, when the West Indies face co-host India.
South Africa stay perfect to close on semis
Markram set the tone for the chase by smashing seven boundaries and four sixes in 82 off 46. De Kock hit four sixes and four boundaries in his 24-ball 47.
Rickelton maintained the express scoring with 45 off 28 balls. He and Markram shared an unbeaten 80 off 50 and South Africa won with more than three overs to spare for a fourth time in Ahmedabad.
The lone wicket was taken by spin bowling allrounder Roston Chase, who was drafted into the playing XI in place of spinner Akeal Hosein.
Pacers Shepherd and Holder couldn’t bowl West Indies to victory after batting their side to respectability.
Jason Holder (left) and Romario Shepherd’s superb stand kept West Indies in contention but they couldn’t follow their heorics with the ball
Shepherd (52 not out) and Holder (49) lifted West Indies from an embarrassing 83-7 with an 89-run partnership, with Shepherd notching his maiden T20 half-century.
In a frenetic powerplay, West Indies lost four wickets in 10 balls and fell to 52-4, with South Africa also dropping three catches in the first six overs.
Kagiso Rabada (2-22) got a faint edge off West Indies captain Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer, who top-edged a pull to wicketkeeper de Kock in the third over. Lungi Ngidi (3-30) took out Brandon King and Chase in the fourth over.
Holder and Shepherd pushed the accelerator in the death overs. Holder smashed Marco Jansen for 23 runs in the 18th over before he was run out in the final over.
Shepherd completed his half-century with an inside edge off the final ball of the innings but South Africa kept the score under-par at its favourite ground in Ahmedabad.
Markram relishing top-order responsibility
Player of the match Aiden Markram (82no off 46 balls):
“We bowled well and the powerplay was big thing for us to get out of nicely. We then had a run of momentum in our batting innings.
“In the second innings, the wicket got good again. It was tacky earlier on so we got lucky with the toss. Our bowlers left us with less work to do.”
“My plan has been get into rhythm and not be so rigid and structured. The flow with my hands has helped but I just locked in today. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but it is nice when it comes off.”
“Captain or not, when you open the batting, it is your responsibility. The top three of us batters have made sure we get the team off to a good start. It came off today and hopefully we can continue.”
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