South Africa maintained their perfect record with a fourth consecutive victory in the T20 World Cup, dispatching the United Arab Emirates by six wickets in a comfortable chase in New Delhi. Hunting down a modest target of 123, the Proteas cruised home thanks to explosive batting displays from skipper Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, and Dewald Brevis, wrapping up the chase in just 13.2 overs with time to spare.
Before that, promising young batsman Alishan Sharafu battled hard for his 45 runs, helping UAE reach a respectable but insufficient 122 for 6 in their T20 World Cup encounter against South Africa in New Delhi. Asked to bat first, UAE were playing their last Group D fixture with their Super 8 dreams already dashed, and despite a promising beginning, they stumbled and lost momentum. South African fast bowler Corbin Bosch (3/12) was the star destroyer, snaring three scalps as UAE’s batting lineup struggled to gain any real rhythm. Both the Proteas and New Zealand have already secured their spots in the Super 8 stage from this group. South Africa Got Their Easy Win Against UAE .
TOSS-
South Africa won the coin flip and chose to bowl first.
PLAYING XI-
United Arab Emirates (Playing XI):
Aryansh Sharma(w), Muhammad Waseem(c), Alishan Sharafu, Sohaib Khan, Syed Haider, Muhammad Arfan, Dhruv Parashar, Muhammad Farooq, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah
South Africa (Playing XI):
Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Jason Smith, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES-
With an eye on giving their reserves some game time, South Africa shuffled their deck with four alterations, while UAE tweaked their lineup with two switches. Sent in to bat with threatening clouds gathering overhead, UAE started brightly as Muhammad Waseem smashed three consecutive boundaries off Kagiso Rabada’s bowling. But George Linde’s introduction in the fifth over, bowling on a surface offering modest spin assistance, put the brakes on their progress and halted Waseem’s aggressive approach. Corbin Bosch then focused on the back-of-length area, extracting additional bounce that proved too much for Aryansh Sharma and Sohaib Khan.
The short-pitched delivery became UAE’s nemesis throughout their innings. Their leading run-scorer Alishan Sharafu misjudged a Kwena Maphaka bouncer at one stage, the ball ricocheting off his helmet and racing away to the boundary ropes. Syed Haider’s effort to duck under another bouncer resulted in his dismissal, handing Anrich Nortje his maiden T20I scalp since the 2024 World Cup finale.
Sharafu kept shuffling across his crease hunting for scoring opportunities, even escaping a potential relay catch at the boundary when Nortje, positioned at fine-leg, lobbed the ball back to Jason Smith, who couldn’t complete the grab. The bouncer strategy persisted. Sharafu took another blow to his helmet from Bosch during the 16th over, dislodging the rear protective piece and requiring yet another head injury assessment. The very next delivery saw Nortje shell a tough opportunity off Sharafu’s blade at deep third man.
In the subsequent over, Bosch dropped what became the fourth missed opportunity of the innings, capping off a disappointing fielding display by the South Africans—a comedy of errors that had started with the usually dependable Quinton de Kock as early as the third over.
Sharafu’s valiant resistance finally ended in the 18th over (courtesy of another short delivery), as UAE limped to 122 for 6 after their full allocation of 20 overs.
SOUTH AFRICA-
When the weather actually cleared, UAE definitely started using spin bowling from both sides to control Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock. The plan backfired at first as the South Africa captain scored 18 runs from left-arm spinner Haider Ali’s first five balls, but the sixth ball itself bowled him out. After 23 overs, we are seeing a UAE spinner getting his first wicket in this tournament only.
Ryan Rickelton actually started hitting many fours quickly, but de Kock definitely got out when he tried to play a big shot and the ball went straight to the fielder at third man. Basically, Dewald Brevis came to bat next and got hit on his left glove by a bouncing ball, so the physio had to check the same quickly.
The wet ground after rain surely made Brevis begin carefully, but his powerful six off Jawadullah showed he was getting into form. Moreover, this aggressive shot cleared any doubts about his readiness to play well. Haider’s six was particularly impressive as he made room and hit the ball over covers, using the turn itself to launch it further. Also, the UAE bowlers actually slowed down their pace to stop Brevis, but the required run rate was definitely not putting pressure on the batsmen. Between overs 7 and 10, Rickelton faced only three balls but further balanced his innings by hitting two sixes off Muhammad Farooq’s opening three deliveries itself. The very next ball, he actually got out in the deep when he definitely tried to take a third run.
Brevis actually came in next and definitely tried to finish the chase quickly, but he just hit the ball straight to mid off and got out. Basically, Tristan Stubbs and Jason Smith finished the same match easily with 40 balls still left.
Brief Scores:
As per the match results, UAE scored 122/6 with Alishan Sharafu making 45 runs and Muhammad Waseem scoring 22, while Corbin Bosch took 3-12 and Anrich Nortje got 2-28. Regarding South Africa’s chase, they won by reaching 123-4 in 13.2 overs with Dewald Brevis scoring 36 and Ryan Rickelton making 30.
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