SA vs WI Highlights of T20 World Cup 2021 Match 18: South Africa Outplay West Indies by Eight Wickets To Score First Victory

Victory for South Africa! Aiden Markram was absolutely brilliant, scoring a 25-ball fifty and along with his 83-run partnership with Rassie van der Dussen, South Africa win this match by eight wickets in 18.4 overs and get their first points in the competition. What a win this is! West Indies meanwhile have two losses in two games and are down and out. They have to win all their matches from here on and hope that things work out for them. It would need a very special effort from them from now on. 

South Africa are cruising along here. West Indies look pretty much deflated. The Proteas have paced their chase pretty well here and they are almost close to a victory, in what was a must-win match for them. West Indies have two overs and just seven runs to make something happen here. Can they do it?

South Africa are closing in on their first win of this competition and things are looking increasingly bleak for West Indies. The defending champions are staring at a second consecutive loss, which can turn out to a major blow in this tournament. Markram and van der Dussen have done well as a pair to rotate the strike and hit the occasional boundaries and the Proteas are well on their way to win this one. 

Alright then! A very good over from Dwayne Bravo as he has just conceded two runs. West Indies trying hard to contain the  Proteas batsmen. South Africa need 44 runs in the next six overs and would they get there easily? Or would West Indies fight back and slow the flow of runs here? Stay tuned because it is going to be an interesting chase!

Alright then! A very good over from Dwayne Bravo as he has just conceded two runs. West Indies trying hard to contain the  Proteas batsmen. South Africa need 44 runs in the next six overs and would they get there easily? Or would West Indies fight back and slow the flow of runs here? Stay tuned because it is going to be an interesting chase!

A very interesting passage of play here. South Africa were going well but West Indies fought back by sending back the well-set Reeza Hendricks. The Proteas are not taking risks apart from the occasional boundaries. They are taking on the chase in a very calm and collected manner. West Indies need more wickets to claw their way back into this game but if the match goes ahead like this, South Africa could well be registering their first win of this competition. 

OUT! Reeza Hendricks is out and Shimron Hetmyer takes a terrific catch to complete the dismissal. The soft signal was out but on review and after going through the replays, Hetmyer's hands are seen to be under the ball as he pulled off a spectacular low catch. Is this the start of the Windies fightback?

A period of quiet play passing on here. South Africa are ensuring that they do not lose any more wickets following the departure of skipper Bavuma in the first over and the partnership between Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks is ticking along well. West Indies need to stop the flow of singles and possibly take another wicket to derail the Proteas again.

West Indies have managed to apply the brakes on South Africa during the powerplay. They got off to a dream start when Andre Russell came up with a direct hit to dismiss Proteas captain Temba Bavuma. South Africa are not taking any risks and are ensuring that the scoreboard ticks along.  After five overs, SA are 36/1. 

OUT! Klaasen finally gets it this time. Having missed an earlier run out chance, Proteas keeper Heinrich Klaasen struck the stumps in time with Shimron Hetmyer out of his crease while attempting two runs. South Africa are fighting back hard here. 

OUT! Andre Russell is dismissed and it is a steaming quick yorker from Anrich Nortje which does the trick. Russell cleared his front foot and decided to go for the big one but he missed it and the ball struck the stumps, castling Russell. Shimron Hetmyer is the new man in and West Indies have faced a setback here. 

10 runs off that Pretorius over and South Africa have managed to get rid of the dangerous Chris Gayle. But it has brought Andre Russell out and he has struck a powerful boundary straight down the ground. Pollard too followed up with a similar shot with a similar outcome. 

OUT! Dwayne Pretorius gets Chris Gayle with his first ball of the match. Trying to clear one out of the park over the cover region, Gayle edges one and Klaasen takes the catch this time to send back the big man. We are in for an interesting finish here. 

All right then! Both Pollard and Gayle have decided to get a move on and Shamsi is the man that they have decided to take on. First it was Pollard who hit a six and next, Gayle decided to strike a huge one down the ground. Bavuma might have done a mistake by bringing a spin bowler at this stage. 

Another tidy over from South Africa and this time it is Anrich Nortje, who is the man responsible for not letting either Pollard or Gayle to free their arms and hit the big ones. West Indies have to make the most out of these remaining five overs. 

Kagiso Rabada has bowled a superb over here, conceding just four runs and taking the wicket of Lendl Simmons. South Africa have done really well to contain the Windies' big hitters and now, the champions would need some of Gayle's brilliance to get them to a decent score. 

OUT! Kagiso Rabada has put an end to Lendl Simmons' struggling 16-run knock off 35 balls. The right-hander, who did not hit even one boundary, goes for the heave and ends up losing his leg stump. South Africa have three wickets in a short span of time and a lot would now rest on Gayle and captain Kieron Pollard if the West Indies have to get to good score here. 

Chris Gayle survives a review after being trapped in front of the wicket by Keshav Maharaj. He got so much in the front foot that he slipped! Proteas take the review and despite the ball hitting the wickets, the umpires call stands and it is not out. 

OUT! Maharaj has struck again and this time, it is Nicholas Pooran who has to depart! South Africa are clawing back into this game and have two wickets in no time. Maharaj would be delighted with this and it is David Miller, who does well to take a good catch near the straight boundary. 

OUT! Keshav Maharaj finally gets the breakthrough for South Africa and it is the danger man Evin Lewis, who is dismissed. He went for the pull and Kagiso Rabada took a brilliant catch, while not being distracted by the sun in his eyes. Lewis has done well, having scored a fine fifty and guiding the Windies innings, with Simmons struggling at the other hand.