A match-winning opening spell from South African pacer Lungi Ngidi was instrumental in the Proteas’ stunning victory against the in-form Indians. His outstanding spell tore through the entire Indian top order, picking up four invaluable wickets in his first two overs. Ngidi was unplayable, getting rid of KL Rahul, skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Hardik Pandya in quick time, leaving India reeling at 51/5.
The mercurial Suryakumar Yadav then got together with veteran Dinesh Karthik to stitch the innings back together after the horror start. On a Perth pitch where the ball was flying through, and the brilliant South African pace attack was raining down, Suryakumar was unperturbed, playing his flamboyant, natural game.
While Karthik held fort at the other end, Yadav mitigated the opening burst from the Proteas pacers and began to attack, with his first victim being Keshav Maharaj. Yadav played a sensational knock, eventually ending on 68, as he rescued India from a position of deep trouble to a slightly respectable total of 133.
In response, South Africa were rocked early as Arshdeep Singh scalped two wickets in his first over, as he removed Quinton de Kock and the dangerous Rilee Rossouw. Skipper Temba Bavuma, whose position in the side has been called into question, struggled before getting dismissed for 10 in 15 balls. Just when it looked like India were back in the game, the experienced duo of Aiden Markram and David Miller held their own, each getting a half-century to pull off an amazing victory for their side.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan secured a landslide victory over the Netherlands in a one-sided encounter. The Pakistan pace attack, which continued as a quartet today, with two spin-bowling all-rounders, turned out to be the Men in Green’s best combination, with Fakhar Zaman coming in as well.
Shaheen Afridi bowled excellent lengths in a good spell, while Naseem Shah and Mohammed Wasim picked up two wickets each. However, it was Shadab Khan who produced yet another brilliant performance with the ball, picking up three wickets as Netherlands finished on 91/9 in their 20 overs. Logan van Beek was brought on as a concussion substitute after Dutch talisman Bas de Leede was struck on the helmet.
Pakistan’s chase started off with veteran Roelof Van der Merwe running out Babar Azam, whose poor form in the tournament continued. Zaman could not make much of an impact either, getting dismissed cheaply, before Rizwan and Shan Masood took their side very close to the finish line.
What should have been a much simpler chase was needlessly complicated by some rash decisions, which led to the fall of two more Pakistan wickets before what was an inevitable victory for the former champs. However, they were done no favours by India, whose win could have improved their chances of qualification, which now looks in peril.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh managed a thrilling win against a buoyant Zimbabwe side, coming in after pulling off the upset of the tournament. Bangladesh, who batted first, were carried by Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who scored an excellent 71 with little support, apart from a couple of cameos from Shakib and Afif Hossain. Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava picked up two scalps apiece as Zimbabwe restricted their Asian rivals to 150.
In reply, Taskin Ahmed carried forward his great form as he and Mustafizur Rahman combined to reduce Zimbabwe to 35/4. Sikandar Raza, who has been sublime for the Zimbabweans in recent times, was dismissed for a duck as his side stared down the barrel.
It was Sean Williams who gave his nation some hope, as he played a fine innings, filled with typically elegant strokeplay, getting his half-century in quick time. Zimbabwe needed 19 to win off the last nine deliveries when Williams was run out by the veteran Shakib al Hasan as Bangladesh managed to scrape through with a three-run victory.
