Dale Steyn and J.P. Duminy led South Africa to a thrilling two-run win over Group 1 rivals New Zealand yesterday that kept them in the hunt for a semi-final spot at the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.
South Africa, who lost their opening match to Sri Lanka, struggled early on and needed a blistering unbeaten 86 off 43 balls by Duminy to reach 170 for six.
New Zealand seemed to be cruising in their reply thanks to Kane Williamson’s 35-ball 51 and Ross Taylor’s 62.
Photo: AFP
They needed 31 off 24 deliveries with seven wickets in hand, but a brilliant two-over spell from Steyn (4-17) turned the match on its head.
The fiery paceman dismissed the dangerous Corey Anderson for seven in the 18th over and then picked up two for four in the last over with the Kiwis, who beat England in their first match, requiring seven for victory.
Taylor, needing three off the last ball, was run out.
Leg-spinner Imran Tahir also played a key role, taking two for 27, but paceman Morne Morkel had a day to forget as he went for 50 in three overs.
Earlier, Hashim Amla (41) and Duminy fought back with a 55-run stand after South Africa had slumped to 42 for three.
The fourth-wicket partnership was broken in bizarre fashion when Amla thumped a ball from Anderson and it hit Duminy’s bat at the non-striker’s end before spooning up for the bowler to complete an easy catch.
Duminy was full of improvised strokes, bludgeoning 10 fours and three sixes as his side added 70 runs in the last five overs.
INDIA-WEST INDIES
AFP, DHAKA
India’s spinners wreaked havoc on the West Indies batting to rout the defending champions by seven wickets in their World Twenty20 Super-10 Group 2 match in Dhaka on Sunday.
The West Indies, sent in to bat, managed only 129-7 as leg-spinner Amit Mishra claimed two for 18 in four overs, Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up one.
India strolled past the modest target with two deliveries to spare as Virat Kohli made 54 off 41 balls and Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten on a fluent 62.
The pair put on 106 for the second wicket after left-hander Shikhar Dhawan was trapped leg before by spinner Samuel Badree off the fifth ball of the innings.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, who beat archrivals Pakistan on Friday last week, now need one more win from their remaining two matches against Australia and hosts Bangladesh to advance to the semi-finals.
The bowlers kept the normally free-stroking West Indies batsmen in check, allowing them just 74 runs by the 15th over for the loss of four wickets.
The hard-hitting Chris Gayle, dropped before he had scored and then again on 19, made a 33-ball 34 with two sixes and a four, before he was run out in the 13th over.
Mishra had Marlon Samuels stumped by Dhoni and claimed Dwayne Bravo leg before off successive balls in the 15th over to open up the lower order.
Lendl Simmons, who was caught off a Jadeja no-ball in the 18th over, celebrated the let-off by smashing the next ball for a six.
Simmons made 27 off 22 balls as Jadeja conceded three sixes in the final over.
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