T20 World Cup: South Africa subdue Sikandar Raza brilliance, go to the semifinal unbeaten

Sikander Raza of Zimbabwe (Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: The individual brilliance of Zimbabwean skipper Sikandar Raza couldn’t stop the South African juggernaut on Sunday. Despite resting three of their frontline bowlers for the inconsequential tie, the outcome remained unchanged for the South Africans as they registered a five-wicket win here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. With their seventh successive victory in the tournament, the Proteas topped Group 1 with six points and will now fly to Kolkata full of confidence to take on New Zealand in the first semifinal of the T20 World Cup on Wednesday. The South African back-up bowlers proved that they are good enough to step in if a need arises in the final stages of the tournament as their bowlers restricted Zimbabwe to 153 for seven on a pitch that offered indifferent bounce.

T20 World Cup: Sikandar Raza press conference after SA vs ZIM

After hitting a blistering half-century to give Zimbabwe a total of respectability, the Proteas were given a scare by Raza with the ball early on, but they managed to overcome the initial jitters to knock off the runs in 17.5 overs losing five wickets. The only challenge to the South African bowling attack was posed by Zimbabwean skipper Raza, who blazed his way to a sublime 73 from 45 balls. While the rest of the Zimbabwean batsmen struggled against the pace of the South African bowlers, or sometimes the lack of it, Raza seemed to be in a different mode. He strode out to the crease when Zimbabwe’s best batsman of the tournament, Brian Bennett (15), was dismissed only for the second time in the World Cup by Anrich Nortje in the fifth over. For the next 11 overs, Raza dictated terms as he drove, pulled and cut the South African bowlers with disdain. He took only three balls to settle down before launching himself against Corbin Bosch. He welcomed the big-built Proteas pacer to the attack with a four and a six of successive balls in the final over of the Powerplay. After smashing eight fours and four sixes, Raza was finally dismissed by young pacer Kwena Maphaka in the 16th over of the Zimbabwean innings as he only managed a leading edge to a cutter and was caught by David Miller at cover point. Once Raza was dismissed, Zimbabwe managed just 27 runs off the last 23 balls. Maphaka was the pick of the South African bowlers as he finished with 2/21. But Raza wasn’t done yet. Opening the bowling, he struck off his third ball, having Quinton de Kock caught behind for a duck. He struck again in his next over by castling his opposite number, Aiden Markram (4), with a ball that kept low and managed to reduce the Proteas to 14 for two. But the others couldn’t sustain the pressure. While Dewald Brevis 42 (18 balls, 2x4, 4x6) imposed himself on Zimbabwean bowlers with a counter-attacking innings, Ryan Rickelton (31, 22 balls) and David Miller (22, 16 balls) played cameos to get the job done.

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