West Indies go down fighting to SA

West Indies went down fighting to South Africa in the 17th game of the ICC World T20 at Oval by twenty runs. With this win, South Africa has most definitely qualified for the semi-finals and will be joined by one of India, West Indies and England from this Group E, unless they implode too badly in their last game against India.

Batting first after West Indies won the toss and decided to field, the South African batsmen looked to rub into the wounds of the tired West Indian attack, who was playing back-to-back games. Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith added 54 for the first wicket in less than six overs before Sulieman Benn got rid of the captain after he had banished to the fence on more than one occasion.

But the misery did not end there for West Indies, as in walked Herschelle Gibbs and put the West Indian bowling sword; immediately hitting K.Pollard to the fence twice in the same over. Last game’s man-of-the-match, Dwayne Bravo was introduced in the first six overs and had gone for 12, but his reintroduction after the Powerplay did not assuage the situation as he went for another 12 runs as South Africa reached 86/1 in ten overs. > Lendl Simmons finally provided the breakthrough when the top run getter of the tournament, Jacques Kallis was caught by Pollard off his bowling. Gibbs marched on in the same vein, hitting Simmons for a four and a six off the 14th over, as the South Africans looked sure to get to 200. However, a couple of boundaries later, Pollard finally managed to induce a skier from Gibbs which was easily caught by Jerome Taylor. Gibbs had hit 55 in only 35 deliveries.

South Africa lost their momentum from this stage, and even as boundaries were hit, the wickets continued to fall for them. The in-form A.B.de Villiers sliced one up in the air to be caught by a rather cool-looking Chris Gayle, while Albie Morkel was bowled in the same over by Jerome Taylor. Fidel Edwards got rid of J.P.Duminy for a first ball duck, while Reold van der Merwe tried to slog one over to the leg-side to be caught on the off! In the end, South Africa got to 187/7 in their twenty overs. > West Indies’ reply was hardly impressive as they lost both their openers for next to nothing on the board. Wayne Parnell was the wrecker-in-chief, getting both the scalps in his first two overs. Previous game’s men in form, Simmons and Bravo got together and worked the bowling around to the fence, and on one occasion over it as well, but it looked too good to last. Bravo was consumed by van der Merwe at 70/2 in the ninth, and Shiv Chanderpaul fell to the part-time spin of Duminy.

Simmons kept chipping away at the other end, but in the end, he required support from the other end as well, but failed to get it. He was finally dismissed for 77 that came off 50 deliveries, and with four overs to spare, the Caribbean team needed 60 runs to win. It was too much to expect off the lower order as Parnell came back to polish off the tail and finish with 4/13 in his four overs and the man-of-the-match award.

South Africa has four points from two, West Indies has two from equal number of games, while India and England have played one each and have yet to open their accounts.