Gros Islet, June 22: A fluent fifty by Quinton de Kock and a gritty effort by bowlers powered South Africa to a tight seven-run win over England in their Group 2 Super Eights match of the T20 World Cup here on Friday.
Harry Brook made 53 off 37 balls (7×4) but there was not much contribution from other batters as defending champions ended up at 156/6, chasing 164.
Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj took two wickets apiece for SA.
Earlier, De Kock made a forceful half-century but South Africa were limited to 163 for six.
De Kock made 65 (38b, 4×4, 4×6), while David Miller (43, 28b, 4×4, 2×6) gave the South African innings the late impetus.
For England, pacer Jofra Archer was the leading wicket-taker (3/40).
Aiden Markram: Last three overs we had a lot against us but the bowlers had good plans and pulled it off. Message after the powerplay was it got slower. If I am greedy we were 10-20 short especially after the start we got. Not quite played a completely game of cricket but we are on the right track. Quinny (de Kock) has been good for us in the last two games. It was a bit nerve-wracking in those overs but it can happen. The plans were there just the execution wasn’t. I’m grateful that catch (off Brook) stuck.
Buttler: Powerplay. Quinton came in with a lot of intent and we couldn’t quite match that. We pulled it back and were happy to chase that target but his innings was the difference. We came back well with the ball. Brook and Livingstone had a fantastic partnership to get us close and even look like favourites but credit to South Africa for closing out the game. Really valuable. He’s very understanding that you don’t get to face many balls in T20 cricket at that positions. He’s hitting the ball really well in the nets and backing himself. Looking forward to the next one.
Quinton de Kock | Player of the Match: It (the pitch) definitely doesn’t play the same as night games. It’s completely a different surface compared to the night games. There was a little bit of extra bounce early on. I try to carry on confidence game by game. We bowled really well in the powerplay, and we controlled it very nicely. To be able to defend 160 on a decent wicket is a good effort from us.