The West Indies have kept their hopes of progressing to the T20 World Cup semi-finals alive with a crushing win over the USA to all but end the tournament’s Cinderella story’s campaign.
Led by a swashbuckling unbeaten 82 from promoted opener Shai Hope, who replaced the injured Brandon King at the top of the order, the Windies made light work of the Americans’ below-par 128 in Barbados, chasing down the target with 55 balls to spare in an emphatic response to their humbling loss to England in the first game of their Super 8s stage.
It was the spinners who did the lion’s share of the damage with the ball, Roston Chase (3/19) running through the USA middle order with the wickets of acting captain Aaron Jones, then former New Zealand international Corey Anderson and Harmeet Singh in successive balls.
In-form opener Andries Gous top-scored for the innings with 29, but after being bowled out with one ball still remaining in their 20 overs, their tally was never going to be enough once Hope and Nicholas Pooran (27 off 12) got going.
Hope bludgeoned eight sixes in a remarkable onslaught to do his chances of retaining the opener’s spot for the remainder of the tournament no harm, finishing on 82 off 39 balls and hitting the winning runs into the Bridgetown stands.
Don’t miss the ICC Men’s #T20WorldCup!
The thumping win boosts the West Indies’ net run rate to 1.814, far and away the highest in Group 2 ahead of the undefeated South Africa (0.625) and 1-1 England (0.412), and makes the hosts’ equation simple: defeat the Proteas in their final Super 8s game, and a semi-final spot will be theirs.
Lose, though, and England would have to be stunned by the USA to enable them to sneak into the penultimate stage.
The USA, meanwhile, will need to destroy England in their final match while hoping the Proteas do likewise to the Windies – though even that likely won’t be enough to salvage their dismal net run rate.
Earlier, Quinton de Kock hammered a second straight half-century while Anrich Nortje bowled a tight final over to help South Africa edge England by seven runs and move closer to a semi-final berth in the T20 World Cup in St Lucia.
Put in to bat first, South Africa started well in their Super 8 clash on Friday with an 86-run partnership between de Kock (65 off 38) and Reeza Hendricks (19).
They posted a competitive 6-163 despite some slow overs in the middle thanks to a late David Miller cameo (43 off 28).
Defending champions England then lost opener Phil Salt early during the chase while Jos Buttler (17) and Jonny Bairstow (16) fell soon after.
Harry Brook (53) and Liam Livingstone (33) put on a 78-run partnership from 52 balls that got England close, with a second win in three days looming, but with 14 runs needed from the last over, they fell short.
“We know we’re still in it,” said England skipper Jos Buttler.
“We played well today. We just didn’t quite get over the line. At one stage we were favourites but it doesn’t work like that in T20 cricket. South Africa closed it out well.”
Champions England will kick themselves for a lack of timing and intent earlier in their pursuit, with a paltry return of three fours and one six in their first 11 overs at the crease.
South Africa are now top of their group with four points from two matches. England, second with two points, can still qualify for the semis when they play the United States in Barbados on Sunday, the same day the Proteas face hosts West Indies.
with AAP