T20 WC 2021: ENG vs SA Review – England confirm spot in semis, South Africa crash out

South Africa fought hard but despite a win against England in a high-scoring thriller, failed to qualify to the semi-finals. England took the game deep but the Proteas had just about enough in their bank to steal a 10-run win in Sharjah. South Africa ended their campaign with four wins in five games but fell short of England and Australia because of the weaker net run rate.

Earlier in the evening, England won the toss and elected to bowl first. Reeza Hendricks was dismissed for only 2, but the rest of the innings was packed with two good partnerships. First, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen put up 71 runs. Once de Kock was dismissed for 34 runs, van der Dussen was joined by Aiden Markram. The pair then took the Proteas through to the end of the innings putting on 103 runs.

Markram produced a gem of a knock scoring 52 runs from 25 balls while van der Dussen scored 94 runs from 60 balls. This helped South Africa finish on 189 for 2. England started off well and despite losing regular wickets, they held their stead in the game with quick runs. Jason Roy made 20 before getting retired hurt, Jos Buttler scored 26 while Dawid Malan struck 33.

Moeen Ali also played a hand of 37 runs while Liam Livingstone made 28 runs. Eoin Morgan got 17 runs as well, but all of that wasn’t enough for England to get past South Africa. For them, the usual suspects Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi and Dwaine Pretorius picked up one, two and two scalps respectively. But, Kagiso Rabada stole the show with his hat-trick in the last over which helped Proteas win this thriller.

Top performers:

Rassie van der Dussen:

The talented batter has not had the best of tournaments but he made sure that he ended it well with his fantastic knock. He managed to counter England’s best bowlers properly and counterattacked at the right time with great success. He was able to smash five fours and six sixes.

Moeen Ali: The all-rounder was exceptional with the ball as he has been right through the tournament. He was England’s most economical bowler conceding 27 runs in his four overs and also picked up the early wicket of Hendricks. He later top-scored with 37 runs from 27 balls at a vital period for England, hitting three fours and two sixes.

Kagiso Rabada:

It is not that often that one of the best bowlers in the world gets smashed for 45 runs in his three overs, including three sixes of consecutive balls. However, Rabada came back to bowl the final over when England needed 14 runs with momentum and Morgan and Chris Woakes in. He got them and Chris Jordan later to complete his hat-trick.

Records/Achievements:

• Rassie van der Dussen’s 94 is the highest score for a South African batter in T20 World Cups. He surpassed Herschelle Gibbs’ 90 vs West Indies in 2007. It was also his personal best.
• Liam Livingstone hit the biggest six of the tournament (112 meters) surpassing Andre Russell’s (111 meters) six from earlier in the day.
• Rabada became the fourth bowler after Brett Lee (2007), Curtis Campher and Wanindu Hasaranga (both 2021) to pick up a hat-trick in the T20 World Cup.

Way ahead:

As a result of this game, England qualified for the semi-final of the tournament. On the other hand, South Africa ended their campaign with four wins from five matches.