Sikandar Raza allround heroics in vain as South Africa stay unbeaten

Zimbabwe lost their final Super Eights match, despite Sikandar Raza's excellent all-round performance against South Africa on Sunday (March 1) reaffirming his position as the best all-rounder in the T20I rankings. Raza performed admirably with the bat, scoring nearly half of his team's runs. Later, he returned with the ball to stir controversy in the South African camp, but the tournament's only unbeaten team won another game. Zimbabwe started off well as Tadiwanashe Marumani hit the first ball of the match for a boundary, which was then followed by Brian Bennett smashing his first ball for a six as 13 runs came in the opening over. However, Marumani lost his leg stump to Kwena Maphaka in the second over due to a wild swing. Maphaka was one of three changes South Africa made to their team after they advanced to the semifinals. Bennett, who has had a memorable maiden ICC tournament, couldn't make a mark this time on a sunny Delhi afternoon as he was sent packing by Anrich Nortje. As he took Corbin Bosch to the clenears with two fours and a six, Raza walked out with purpose to conclude the Powerplay in a positive manner for the Zimbabweans. After hitting Nortje for a four and a six, the 39-year-old scored 31 runs in 14 balls. However, South Africa continued to advance, and it was now George Linde's turn to score, with Dion Myers gaining the upper hand. Aiden Markram, a Zimbabwe veteran, welcomed Aiden into the attack with a six and a four in his first over, but Lungi Ngidi and Bosch struck in consecutive overs to keep Zimbabwe at bay. Raza eventually hit a 29-ball fifty before looking like he was going to double it and make it count. Boundaries continued to blur as Zimbabwe reached 110/5 with five overs remaining and a rampaging Raza at the crease. But immediately after nailing another six off Maphaka this time, Raza miscued one off the very next ball to depart for 73. That ended Zimbabwe's chances of reaching 170, but Clive Madanda still managed to get them to 153. With a par total to defend, Raza took the onus upon himself to cause some flutter in the South African camp. He started the bowling and got rid of Quinton de Kock, who was trying to cut but the left-hander edged one to the keeper. Raza was able to sneak one through Markram's defense in his next over, but the ball stayed just low enough to clatter the stumps. Ryan Rickelton attempted a counterattack with a few sixes, but Brad Evans stopped him with a short ball that the left-hander misjudged and missed. At 43/3 at the conclusion of the Powerplay, South Africa was reeling and required a partnership to restart the chase. Dewald Brevis responded in typical fashion by first facing Graeme Cremer and scoring two sixes in an over. With a few sixes and a four, David Miller broke Wellington Mazakadza up in his first over and got into the act. That little boundary spree did enough to dampen the Zimbabwean spirits. Even though Blessing Muzarabani came back to break the partnership and Raza backed it up with Brevis' wicket in his final over, South Africa still coasted to a victory. Any hopes Zimbabwe had of staging a comeback after Brevis' departure didn't materialise after Linde and Tristan Stubbs showed no signs of panic. With measured partnership, the two continued to eat away at the goal. The knockout blow then came from the bat of Linde as he hit a boundary each off Bennett and Burl before the duo finished the job with 13 balls to spare. South Africa will now head to Kolkata to take on New Zealand in the first semi-final on March 4.