South Africa held on for another narrow victory, defeating co-hosts West Indies in Antigua on Monday morning to book their place in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup.
Securing a three-wicket win with five balls to spare in a rain-interrupted encounter, the Proteas finished top of their Super 8 group, progressing to the penultimate round of the T20 showpiece for the first time in 10 years.
Set a target of 136 runs to win, the Proteas lost openers Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock in the first couple of overs of their chase. Two overs into their innings, the match was disrupted by rain, but after a little more than an hour, the rain stopped and the players returned, with just three overs lost.
Set a revised target of 123 in 17 overs, nobody in the Proteas line-up really stood out, but they combined well with middle-order batter Tristan Stubbs (29 runs) top-scoring, and Marco Jansen (21 not out) keeping the tail wagging as they reached 124/7 in the final over of the game.
Earlier, after being sent in to bat, West Indies made 135/8 in their 20 overs. While the rest of their batting line-up fell apart, opener Kyle Mayers combined with Roston Chase in an 81-run partnership for the third wicket to keep the home side in the match.
Mayers made 35 runs and Chase smashed 52 runs off 42 balls, but they received no support from the rest of their specialist batters. Spinner Tabraiz Shamsi took 3/27 to lead the Proteas attack, while Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, and Kagiso Rabada grabbed one scalp each, working well together to restrict their opponents.
South Africa is likely to face either Australia or Afghanistan in the first T20 World Cup semifinal in Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday.
Their opponents for the next round will be decided by Tuesday morning. The Proteas will be looking to carry their momentum into the semifinal and secure a spot in the finals.
