The Proteas held their nerve under pressure to defeat West Indies in what was a virtual quarter final clash at the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup.
It was another low scoring thriller that South Africa were involved in; and even after the rain, the lower order batters refused to crumble without a fight.
Showers in big games for South Africa have often been a hurdle, but this time the rain stoppage could not put out the Protea fire.
The hosts batted first and were restricted to 135/8 as Tabraiz Shamsi took 3/27, dismissing top scorerer Roston Chase who struck 52 off 42.
The weather interruption saw the second innings curtailed to 17 overs with the adjusted target set to 123 by the DLS method.
The match would go down to the wire.
Andre Russell was majestic with the new ball as Reeza Hendricks struggled with yet another duck while Quinton de Kock’s good form was hindered by a short ball early on.
Captain Aiden Markram got to 18 off 15 but he, too, was dismissed inside the opening six overs leaving work to do for the middle and lower order.
Ultimately, it was Marco Jansen’s 21 off 14 and Kagiso Rabada vital boundary at the death that got the Proteas over the line in the final over to send them through to the semi-finals alongside England.
Group one’s semi-finalists will be confirmed later on Monday as India face Australia before Afghanistan and Bangladesh face-off.
Pictured above: Kagiso Rabada
Image source: @izwe_libanzi
