T20 World Cup: Spirited South Africa beat West Indies to seal semifinal spot

North Sound (Antigua):  All-round South Africa beat the hosts West Indies by three wickets via DLS method in the Super Eight match of the T20 World Cup at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium to seal a semifinal spot. South Africa have been unbeaten in the seven matches of the tournament so far and have joined defending champions England in the semifinals. Proteas captain Aiden Markram won the toss and invited the Windies to bat first in overcast conditions. His bowlers proved his decision right as they restricted the hosts to 135/8 in 20 overs. West Indies had a dismal start as they lost opener Shai Hope (0) and Nicholas Pooran (1) cheaply but Kyle Mayers and Roston Chase staged a fightback and built an 81-run strong partnership off 65 balls for the third-wicket. However, Tabraiz Shamsi broke the stand with a wicket of Mayers (35) in the 12th over. In the next over, captain Rovman Powell (1) was sent to the pavilion by Keshav Maharaj to leave them reeling at 89/4 in 12.4 overs. Shamsi did not give any opportunity to Sherfane Rutherford to free his arms and settle in the middle as he clinched him for a duck in the 14th over. Chase, who was standing tall on the other end, also faltered in the 16th over against Shamsi after scoring 52 off 42 balls including three fours and two sixes. Andre Russell tried to flex his arms in the middle with two sixes but he returned back to the dugout after getting run out in the 18th over. In the same over, Kagiso Rabada grabbed a catch on his bowling to dismiss Akeal Hosein (6). West Indies finished for 135/8 in 20 overs as Shamsi returned with the figures of 3-27. In response, South Africa was given a 123 target in 17 overs via DLS method after rain interrupted the match. South Africa suffered early hiccups with the wickets of Reeza Hendricks (0) and Quinton de Kock (12) in Andre Russell’s second over. Captain Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs stitched a brief 27-run partnership to stabilise the side in the powerplay before Alzarri Joseph got hold of the former in the sixth over. Markram departed after scoring 18 runs off 15 balls. Heinrich Klaasen joined Stubbs in the middle and the duo stitched a 35-run partnership off 16 balls before Joseph returned to take his second scalp. Stubbs continued his knock in the middle as he was joined by David Miller before Roston Chase ended his 14-ball stay in the 12th over. In the 14th over, Chase bagged the crucial wicket of Stubbs (29) to leave South Africa in a spot of bother but Marco Jansen’s unbeaten 21 off 14 laced with a six and a four guided them over the line with five balls to spare. For West Indies, Chase grabbed three wickets while Russell and Joseph scalped two dismissals each. Brief scores: West Indies 135/8 in 20 overs (Roston Chase 52, Kyle Mayers 35; Tabraiz Shamsi 3-27) lost to South Africa 124/7 in 16.1 overs (Tristan Stubbs 29, Marco Jansen 21*; Roston Chase 3-12) by three wickets via DLS method.