Sikandar Raza put up a strong all-round performance, but it wasn’t enough to stop South Africa from beating Zimbabwe by five wickets in their Group 1 Super Eights match of the T20 World Cup clash at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
South Africa's chase
South Africa were chasing a target of 154 and, for a while, Raza made things difficult for them with the ball. He picked up three wickets for 29 runs and kept Zimbabwe in the contest. However, the Proteas kept their calm and reached 154 for 5 in 17.5 overs. Tristan Stubbs stayed unbeaten on 21, while George Linde supported him with an unbeaten 30 to guide the team home.
Earlier in the chase, Ryan Rickelton scored 31 runs and cleared the boundary four times. Dewald Brevis played a quick knock of 42 off just 18 balls, smashing four sixes and two fours to put pressure back on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe innings
Before that, Zimbabwe were lifted by their captain Sikandar Raza, who played a fighting innings of 73 from 43 balls. He hit eight fours and four sixes and was the main reason his team managed to post 153 for 7. In the final overs, Clive Madande chipped in with an important 26 off 20 balls, hitting three fours to push the total past 150.
Brief Scores:
Zimbabwe: 153/7 in 20 overs (Sikandar Raza 73; Kwena Maphaka 2/21).
South Africa: 154/5 in 17.5 overs (Ryan Rickelton 31, Dewald Brevis 42, George Linde ; Sikandar Raza 3/29).