AHMEDABAD: South Africa moved to the brink of the Twenty20 World Cup Super 8 stage after captain Aiden Markram struck a blistering half-century to seal a seven-wicket victory over New Zealand on Saturday, their third successive win in Group D.
New Zealand slipped to their first defeat of the tournament despite posting a competitive 175-7, with Marco Jansen taking 4-40 to rattle the top order.
In reply, opener Markram smashed four sixes and eight fours in an unbeaten 86 off 44 balls — the highest score by a South African captain in the tournament’s history — as South Africa reached 178-3 with 17 balls to spare.
The finalists at the last edition opted to bowl first in Ahmedabad, a decision that paid immediate dividends as Jansen removed much of New Zealand’s top order inside seven overs.
Finn Allen attempted to counterattack with 31 off 17 balls after Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra fell early, but Jansen had Allen caught at mid-off to leave New Zealand reeling at 58-3.A 74-run stand for the fifth wicket between Mark Chapman (48) and Daryl Mitchell (32) steadied the innings before Jansen struck again, with Chapman caught by Ryan Rickelton in the 14th over.
New Zealand managed only 17 runs in the next four overs, though James Neesham added late impetus with an unbeaten 23 off 15 balls.“It’s about managing it through the right phases,” Markram said.
“Up front you’ve seen how teams are taking on the powerplay and we’d be silly not to try that. It’s not always going to come off, but when it does we can get ahead of the game.”
David Miller, unbeaten on 24, struck the winning runs with a boundary over mid-wicket.South Africa finish their group campaign against the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, while New Zealand face Canada a day earlier.
