South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen delivered a masterclass in dominance, crushing New Zealand by seven wickets to virtually secure their spot in the T20 World Cup’s Super 8 phase in Ahmedabad on Saturday. How delightfully predictable.
Jansen’s career-best bowling figures of 4/40 helped South Africa strangle New Zealand to a mere 175 for 7 after choosing to field first in this supposedly “crucial” encounter. Mark Chapman came tantalizingly close to his personal milestone, falling just two runs short on 48 to Jansen in the 14th over – what a heartbreaker. Meanwhile, the rest of New Zealand’s batting lineup showed their trademark consistency by getting decent starts before promptly throwing them away. Finn Allen (31) and Daryl Mitchell (32) contributed respectably for the Blackcaps, though finding any real rhythm toward a commanding total proved mysteriously elusive.
In the chase, Markram crafted an unbeaten 86 from 44 deliveries, matching his personal best T20I knock, while Quinton de Kock chipped in with 20 from 14 balls. The pair combined for 62 runs in just 28 balls during their opening partnership – how refreshingly straightforward. Ryan Rickelton added a brisk 21 from 11 deliveries, and Dewald Brevis (21 from 17) provided a steady hand before Markram and David Miller (24 not out from 17) calmly guided their team home, reaching 178 for 3 in just 17.1 overs. : Markram And Jansen Pushed A Comfortable Win Against new Zealand .
TOSS
South Africa claimed the toss and elected to bowl first.
PLAYING XI
New Zealand (Playing XI):
Finn Allen, Tim Seifert(w), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
South Africa (Playing XI):
Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
NEW ZEALAND
Finn Allen (31 from 17) launched an explosive beginning, hammering three boundaries and a maximum off Lungi Ngidi before adding another four and six against Marco Jansen. The left-arm bowler, however, proved to be New Zealand’s nemesis during the PowerPlay. He first trapped Tim Seifert with a well-directed bouncer that induced a top edge. Then Jansen struck twice more in the PowerPlay’s final over, removing both Rachin Ravindra and Allen. What appeared to be a promising foundation for New Zealand suddenly crumbled to 58 for 3 – because nothing says “momentum” quite like a spectacular collapse.
New Zealand was actually struggling badly after the PowerPlay when Glenn Phillips got out in just three balls to Keshav Maharaj. They were definitely in trouble at 64 for 4 wickets. Mark Chapman actually scored 48 runs from 26 balls and Daryl Mitchell made 32 runs from 24 balls. They definitely built a good partnership of 74 runs in just 44 balls as New Zealand kept playing attacking cricket instead of playing safe. We are seeing Chapman as the main attacker, hitting the boundary six times and only clearing it twice, while Mitchell was giving support.
Moreover, with the score reaching near 200, we are seeing Markram giving the ball to Jansen for the 14th over, and this move worked well as the fast bowler’s slow ball only got Chapman out. Basically this caused more wickets to fall as New Zealand lost Mitchell and the same pattern continued with 3 wickets falling for just 7 runs. We are seeing that only a small late innings from James Neesham (23* off 15) helped push the total to 175, but this score did not trouble South Africa much.
SOUTH AFRICA-
Ahmedabad further provided a batting-friendly pitch for this match between the two top teams from Group D itself. As per the PowerPlay chase, there was no warning regarding the destruction Markram would bring. Markram stood on his toes and hit the second ball of the innings past cover for four runs, further showcasing his batting skills as the drive itself was perfectly timed. The South Africa captain surely hit another sharp drive through the strong off-side field for four runs on the next ball. Moreover, Quinton de Kock completed the 13-run opening over from Matt Henry by scoring his own boundary.
It actually set the mood for South Africa’s tough beating of the New Zealand attack. This definitely showed how South Africa would play against them. We are seeing Markram hitting Lockie Ferguson for six runs with a big shot, and then only the ball touched his bat edge and went for four more runs. Mitchell Santner changed his bowlers and Jacob Duffy was hit for two sixes and a four, which further helped the team reach 50 runs in the third over itself. When Quinton de Kock was surely dismissed after scoring 20 runs from 14 balls, South Africa had moreover reached a total of 62 runs on the scoreboard. When the PowerPlay finished, South Africa had made 83 runs and needed just over one run per ball for the remaining overs. This itself put them in a good position to win the match further.
As per the match records, Markram made his fifty in just 19 balls right after the PowerPlay, which is the fastest half-century by any South African player in T20 World Cups. After that, we are seeing the match going at a slow pace only, before David Miller hit a big six to finish the game while his captain stayed not out with 86 runs from 44 balls.
Brief scores:
As per the match results, New Zealand scored 175/7 in 20 overs with Mark Chapman making 48 runs, while Marco Jansen took 4 wickets for 40 runs. Regarding South Africa’s performance, they won by 7 wickets scoring 178/3 in 17.1 overs with Aiden Markram hitting 86 runs.
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