PROTEAS HOLD THEIR NERVE TO SECURE T20 WORLD CUP SEMIFINAL BERTH

The Proteas have knocked out the co-hosts West Indies and secured a semi-final berth with a thrilling three-wicket victory in their final ICC Men's T20 World Cup Super Eight match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Marco Jansen recovered from a collision with Kagiso Rabada while fielding to hit the winning six off the first ball of the final over as the Proteas edged past the West Indies’ Duckworth Lewis’ revised target of 123.

Rain had interrupted the Proteas innings at 15/2 after two overs resulting in three overs being lost causing the Windies initial total of 135/8 to be reduced.

The Proteas run-chase was tense throughout with Reeza Hendricks falling for a first-ball duck, while the dangerous Quinton de Kock was caught on the boundary early on.

Andre 'Dre' Russell (2/19) was the successful bowler on both occasions.

Captain Aiden Markram seemed to settle the nerves after the rain interruption as he looked to build a partnership with his Sunrisers Eastern Cape teammate Tristan Stubbs.

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But the Windies were not going down without a fight in front of their boisterous home crowd, and they found their voice again when former Joburg Super Kings fast bowler Alzarri Joseph (2/25) ripped open the game by having Markram caught for 18.

The Proteas continued to inch closer to target through Stubbs and Heinrich Klaasen, but only for Joseph to intervene again.

The fast bowler delivered a vicious bouncer to Klaasen that climbed on the right-hander, who could only take evasive action with the ball ballooning off his gloves.

It still required a spectacular grab from Windies keeper Nicholas Pooran, who ran back before diving full length to complete the catch.

The Windies were sensing they had a real chance to upset the Proteas and that belief grew even further when Roston Chase (3/12) delivered the wickets of David Miller and the well-set Stubbs (29 off 27 balls) within a couple of overs.

The Proteas were now reduced to 100/6 with only the tail and Jansen remaining.

But Chase was not finished yet with Keshav Maharaj caught in the deep to leave the Proteas in genuine danger of missing out on the semi-finals.

The Proteas have though spoken volumes of how their previous close finishes at this T20 World Cup has strengthened their resolve and mental capacity to handle pressure situations and it showed when Rabada hauled out an exquisite square drive off the final ball of Chase’s spell that raced to the cover boundary.

This left the Proteas requiring just five runs off Paarl Royals left-arm seamer Obed McCoy’s final over.

Jansen showed all the composure of a player that has emerged victorious in two high-pressure Betway SA20 finals as he struck the first ball over mid-on to silence the home crowd whilst simultaneously setting off wild celebrations in the Proteas dugout.

The Proteas would earlier have been confident of chasing down the total after delivering an excellent bowling performance.

It could have been even better had the Proteas not dropped four catches, including West Indies top-scorer Chase (52 off 42 balls) on 11 and 20.

The one spilled chance was a nasty collision between Jansen and Rabada in the deep, but fortunately both were able to continue after receiving treatment.

They also dropped Durban's Super Giants opener Kyle Mayers, who was playing in his first T20 World Cup match after belatedly entering the tournament for the injured Brandon King.

But the Proteas managed to put the missed opportunities aside with Betway SA Season 2 leading wicket-taker Jansen setting the tone upfront when he removed Shai Hope in the very first over.

This was followed up by an inspired decision from captain Markram to take the new ball himself.

Markram identified the match-up against the left-handed Nicholas Pooran and was rewarded for his tactical awareness when he dismissed the dangerous DSG power-hitter in his first over. The Windies found themselves in deep trouble at 5/2.

Markram quickly realised the Antigua surface suited the slower bowlers and held back his pace bowlers, particularly Rabada who only entered the attack in the 18th over, as he bowled his full complement of four overs upfront to finish with the excellent figures of 1/28.

Due to the dropped chances the Windies were able to recover through a 81-run partnership between Chase and Mayers, but that's when Paarl Royals wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (3/27) began to weave his magic.

Shamsi, back in the Proteas starting XI for seamer Ottniel Baartman, has a fantastic record against the Windies and showed why once more when he had Mayers (35) caught on the deep cover boundary by Tristan Stubbs.

This brought West Indies captain Rovman Powell to the crease, which allowed Markram to reintroduce left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj back into the attack.

Again the match-up worked in the Proteas’ favour with Maharaj continuing his success rate against right-handers as he completely deceived Powell with a magnificent flighted delivery that gripped off the surface and beat the outside edge.

Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock moved swiftly behind the stumps as he whipped off the bails with the Windies’ skipper Powell over-balancing.

Markram’s astute leadership came to the fore again in the following over as he held the slip in place for Shamsi, who responded to his captain’s faith by having Sherfane Rutherford caught at the skipper himself at first slip for a duck.

And when Anrich Nortje made up for his earlier dropped catch with spectacular direct-hit to run out the dangerous Russel just after he had struck two sixes, there was just a feeling that it was going to the Proteas' day.

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