SA picked up where they left off in Mumbai as they defeated hosts India by four runs in a WorldT20 warm-up thriller.
|||South Africa picked up where they left off in Mumbai as they defeated hosts India by four runs in a thrilling ICC WorldT20 warm-up match on Saturday night.
The win, which was earned under severe pressure from India’s juggernauts in MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, will serve as a timely boost for South Africa after their recent 2-1 series loss at home to Australia.
The match was unofficial and therefore allowed both teams to utilise their entire squad if they wanted.
South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first at a packed Wankhede Stadium.
The Proteas opted to rest two of their key men in AB de Villiers and Kagiso Rabada, but the rest of the squad got a bat or a bowl.
Having chosen to bat first, South Africa amassed 196/9 in their 20 overs, with JP Duminy making a most welcome return to form.
It was not altogether surprising given that Duminy has regularly turned out at the venue for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
His 67 runs off 44 balls included three sixes and six fours and almost took South Africa beyond the 200-mark.
The visitors also had Quinton de Kock to thank for a fast start as he sped to 56 off 33 balls before retiring to give the rest of the order a chance.
Though no one else kicked on in the manner that Duminy did, the Proteas would have been satisfied with shaking off the cobwebs.
In response, India started slowly and fell a long way behind the required rate at one stage.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan notched an impressive 73 before he retired, too, but India’s main man Virat Kohli only lasted two balls before he edged Dale Steyn behind for one.
The home side, who recently won the Asia Cup in preparation for this tournament, looked like they were heading for a big defeat but Suresh Raina’s breezy 41 started the comeback before Dhoni and Singh joined forces.
The experienced duo added an unbeaten 51 in the last four overs and very nearly stole the win.
Needing 28 off the last two overs, Singh took 14 off the 19th over, bowled by Steyn, leaving Dhoni to do the same in the 20th.
Chris Morris, deputising for Rabada in the death overs, was fantastic, conceding just four runs off the first four balls before a boundary and a wide gave India one last chance, with five required to win off the very last ball.
Morris served up another dot ball, however, and South Africa could take heart from holding their nerve under pressure from the tournament favourites.
The South African women’s side, meanwhile, lost their opening warm-up fixture against an under-19 boys side from Chennai by nine wickets last night.
South Africa managed 104/5 and the locals overhauled that with 29 balls to spare with one wicket down.
The SA men open their World T20 campaign against England in Mumbai on Friday (4pm SA time), while the Sa women take on world No1 Australia in Nagpur on the same day.
lAfghanistan roared into the main draw with an emphatic 59-run victory over Zimbabwe in a first round Group B match yesterday.
Mohammad Shahzad (40) gave Afghanistan a flying start before Mohammad Nabi (52) and Samiullah Shenwari (43) added 98 runs off 64 balls to power them to 186/6, their highest total in this format.
The associate nation then returned to bowl out Zimbabwe for 127 to register a memorable victory over a full-member nation and join England, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka in Group One of the Super 10 stage of the tournament.
“This was a very important match for us. People in Afghanistan are crazy about cricket. They love the game, so (winning it) was very important for us,” victorious captain Asghar Stanikzai said.
With a place in the main draw at stake, Stanikzai opted to bat and was vindicated as Shahzad set alight Nagpur’s VCA Stadium with his swashbuckling batting.
The portly 28-year-old hit Tendai Chatara for four successive boundaries after a quiet opening over.
Donald Tiripano was pressed into service but there was no respite from Shahzad, who hit him for three successive fours.
Shahzad greeted left-arm spinner Sean Williams by hitting his first delivery for a six but fell in the same over after a 23-ball blitz attempting a reverse sweep.
His dismissal triggered a mini-collapse as Afghanistan, cruising at 49 for no loss in the fifth over, slumped to 63/4 in the eighth.
Nabi then joined forces with Shenwari to first steady the innings before accelerating.
Beneficiary of a missed stumping opportunity, Nabi hit Wellington Masakadza for two sixes in the same over and brought up his maiden fifty in 30 balls before falling in the final over.
Zimbabwe’s erratic bowlers conceded 25 extras, including 17 wides, to make things difficult for themselves.
– THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
