South Africans woke up to the news on Monday morning that their Proteas made it to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Captain Aiden Markram and his charges booked their spot in the final four of the competition by beating host the West Indies by three wickets in a rain-interrupted final Super 8s Group 2 clash in Antigua.
The result means the unbeaten South Africans finished at the top of the group standings and will face the second-placed team in Group 1 in the semis.
For the Windies it is neusie verby, as they finished third in the group, with England joining SA in the last four and co-hosts USA ending with the wooden spoon.
But again, Markram and his manne were pushed all the way. And again they prevailed.
And again it was their bowlers that laid the foundation for the win, restricting the tournament’s co-hosts to just 135/8 in their 20 overs.
One step closer to glory 🏆🌍🏏🇿🇦
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 24, 2024
The Proteas have secured their spot in the 2024 #T20WorldCup Semi-Finals 😤🙌#OutOfThisWorld #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/NTG2ijKGUx
Spinner Tabraiz Shamsi did the most damage by taking 3/27 in his four overs as his countrymen were in droomland back home.
Roston Chase klapped 52 off 42 balls for the Windies, who had to bowl well to win the match.
They started well, removing the sukkelende Reeza Hendricks for a first-ball duck, before Quinton de Kock (12) also lost his wicket his wicket before rain stopped play in the second over.
Three overs were lost and SA had a revised target of 123.
This is 𝗔𝗥𝗧. 🖼️
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 24, 2024
Clutch-iso Rabada.
📷: ICC/ Getty #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt#OutOfThisWorld #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/TV8BaONCjE
Tristan Stubbs’ 29, Henrich Klaasen’s 22 of 10 balls and Marco Jansen’s unbeaten 21 off 14 balls saw them home with more than three overs to go.
But it was squeaky-bum time for a moment and Shamsi says: “Yeah look, obviously most of the games have been a lot closer than we would have personally liked, but the amazing thing is that this new Proteas team always seems to get over the line…”
South Africa’s opponent in the last four was confirmed this morning, with Australia playing India in their final Group 1 clash last night and Bangladesh facing Afghanistan in the early-morning match today.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za