——– Australia defeat Bangladesh in rain-affected match
Sports Desk
Gros Islet: South Africa defeated England by seven runs in their second Super 8 clash of the T20 World Cup 2024 at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on Friday.
The Proteas are undefeated in the competition with six straight wins.
England had a slow start to the run chase after their last match performer Phil Salt (11 off 8 balls) went back in the second over. Jos Buttler (17 off 20 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (16 off 20 balls ) steadied but lost wickets at the crucial stages.
Keshav Maharaj had the better of both the batters. Moeen Ali (9 off 10 balls)also couldn’t put the pressure as the run rate went creeping. He tried to play a big shot but was removed by Ottneil Baartman.
England came back in the chase with Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone forming a crucial stand of 78 runs. Brook took on the South African bowlers while Livingstone attacked in patches.
Livingstone managed 17-ball 33 before being dismissed by Kagiso Rabada
Meanwhile, Brook reached to his first T20 World Cup fifty but couldn’t finish the chase as he departed courtesy of a brilliant catch by skipper Aiden Markram. He made 37-ball 53 runs. The defending champions were restricted to 156/6.
Rabada and Maharaj bagged two wickets each for the Proteas.
Earlier, Quinton de Kock gave a flying start to South Africa after being put into bat first by England. The wicketkeeper-batter slammed a 22-ball fifty, the joint-fastest of the ongoing competition.
Meanwhile, Reeza Hendricks (19 off 25 balls) couldn’t build on his slow start. He was the first batter to be dismissed by leg-spinner Adil Rashid.
De Kock departed due to England skipper Jos Buttler’s acrobatic catch. He made a 38-ball 65 with the help of eight boundaries.
The defending champions returned to the game with Buttler once again contributing but this time with a run out at the non-striker’s end to remove Heinrich Klassen (9 off 13 balls).
Meanwhile, Rashid removed skipper Aiden Markram (1 off 2 balls). David Miller took the charge in the later part, scoring a crucial 28-ball 43.
The Proteas managed 163/6 in their 20 overs. Pacer Jofra Archer was the top bowler for England, bagging figures of 3/40.
On the other hand, Fast bowler Pat Cummins took a hat-trick and David Warner smashed a half-century as undefeated Australia kicked off their Super Eight campaign at the T20 World Cup with a rain-hit 28-run win over Bangladesh on Thursday.
Recalled with fellow quick Josh Hazlewood after being rested against Scotland, Cummins’s three-wicket burst helped restrict the South Asians to 140 for eight before rain cut short Australia’s chase.
Victory was secured by the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Australia were 100 for two after 11.2 overs before the match was abandoned, with Warner unbeaten on 53 and Glenn Maxwell 14 not out at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Test and one-day skipper Cummins bowled Mahmudullah for two, had Mahedi Hasan caught for a duck by Adam Zampa at deep third man and then dismissed Towhid Hridoy for 40 when the batter scooped to Hazlewood.
Cummins’s third victim came in the over after his first two wickets, and his hat-trick celebration was conspicuously understated.
“I had no idea … I totally forgot about it,” Cummins said of his first hat-trick in international cricket and the first at the tournament.
“It’s a good club to be a part of.”
He finished with 3-29 from his four overs while spinner Adam Zampa took 2-24 to put the brakes on Bangladesh in the middle overs.
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh had declared himself fit to bowl on the eve of the match after recovering from a hamstring strain but the all-rounder left the spare overs to Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis.
His poor form with the bat continued, though, with Marsh dismissed lbw for one by Rishad Hossain, who took both the Australian wickets, bowling Travis Head for 31.
