West Indies will take on South Africa in a crucial match of the Super Eight stage of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at North Sound in Antigua. The match will be played late in the evening in the Caribbean Islands and will be telecasted at 6 am IST on Monday with the winners of the game advancing to the semi-final.
The winners of the 2016 T20 World Cup, West Indies finished unbeaten in Round 1, winning four out of four games. They qualified as C2 courtesy of the pre-tournament seedings and joined England, South Africa, and the USA in the second Group for the Super Eight stage.
South Africa is one of the few teams yet to lose a game in the competition. They won all four games in the first stage and then got the better of England and the USA in the second round. A win will take them through to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup for the first time since 2014.
What has happened so far?
West Indies started their T20 World Cup with convincing wins against Papua New Guinea and Uganda. They defeated PNG by five wickets and were clinical against Uganda, winning by 134 runs, which was their biggest margin of victory in T20Is. After setting Uganda a target of 174, they bowled out the side for just 39, the lowest team total in the history of the T20 World Cup.
They also recorded comfortable wins against the two Full-Member teams in their group, New Zealand and Afghanistan. Their first challenge came against England when they had no answer to Phil Salt’s onslaught. Salt made 87 in 47 to help his team chase down 181 in 17.3 overs. West Indies bounced back with a win over the USA, making 129 in just 65 balls in the second innings.
South Africa is unbeaten in the T20 World Cup but faces a crucial do-or-die test against the West Indies. The Proteas steamrolled the Netherlands and Sri Lanka in the first round but were lucky to escape with narrow wins against Bangladesh and Nepal, winning by four and one run, respectively.
They were at their best against the USA in their first game of the Super Eight, posting 194-4. It proved to be 18 runs too many for the T20 World Cup debutants, who lost by 18 runs. A seven-run win against England followed, defending 25 runs off the last three overs, keeping alive their winning streak.
Head to Head Record
There is no separating the two teams in the head-to-head battles. West Indies and South Africa have played each other 22 times in all T20Is, winning 11 games each.
However, the West Indies hold a favorable record recently, having emerged victorious in five out of the six T20I matches played between the two teams since last year, including a 3-0 series triumph just before the World Cup.
Both teams have similar strengths and weaknesses in their line-up, though the home conditions could work for the West Indies in this game.
Key Players
Pooran is the leading run-scorer in the 2024 T20 World Cup
Nicholas Pooran (West Indies): Pooran tops the run-scoring charts in this T20 World Cup, making 227 runs at an average of 45.40. His strike rate of 148.36 has been the highlight, though, emerging as West Indies’ most crucial player in the middle overs.
Pooran has been in brilliant form since the start of 2023, making 2,288 runs at a strike rate of 163.66 with one hundred and 13 fifties. He will enter the game against South Africa with knocks of 98, 36 and 27* in his last three innings.
Anrich Nortje (South Africa): The pacer has been unplayable this World Cup, picking up 11 wickets at an average of 12.90. He has conceded only 5.91 runs an over, making it tough for the batters to score off him. He has picked up at least a wicket in each of his six games, with best figures of 4-7 against Sri Lanka.
Predicted XIs
West Indies: Johnson Charles, Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Roston Chase, Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell ©, Romario Shepherd, Andre Russell, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram ©, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman
Prediction
Despite what the results suggest, South Africa has been lucky to escape with three wins in the ongoing T20 World Cup, against Bangladesh, Nepal, and England. Their middle-order batters are also not in the best hitting form. However, the Proteas have one of the best pace bowling attacks with Kagiso Rabada and Nortje, who will be expected to run through a dangerous West Indies line-up.
The Windies, on the other hand, have four batters in Shai Hope, Sherfane Rutherford, Pooran and Andre Russell who have strike rates over 145 this World Cup and should fancy their chances although the pressure of a big game evens out the contest.