Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi, Zimpapers Sports Hub
STAR all-rounder Sikandar Raza fought a valiant battle with bat and ball, but Zimbabwe still bade farewell to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup stage with defeat after falling to neighbours South Africa by five wickets.
The defeat at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi brought the curtain down to an eventful campaign for the Chevrons, who reached the coveted Super Eights for the first time with a hundred percent winning record in the group games.
However, the Super Eight stage proved daunting as they lost all three matches to West Indies, India and South Africa.
After they were restricted to 153/7 yesterday, it was always going to be difficult to contain the Proteas, who remain the only team unbeaten at this tournament jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Raza was outstanding, though with a captain’s knock of 73 runs from 43 balls. The Zimbabwe skipper was also efficient with the ball, with figures of 3-29 in his four overs.
Raza spoke with humility when he went to receive the Man of the Match award during the post-match presentation, in an awkward moment for a player from the losing side.
“My immediate reflection is that I shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“I’ve never gotten a Man of the Match for losing a game. We took a bit of a beating in the last two games, but each beating came with valuable lessons. We take these valuable lessons, go home and hopefully come back strong and better.”
Raza yesterday won the toss and, unlike the previous two Super Eight matches, opted to bat first.
However, Zimbabwe did not have the kind of start they could have fancied, losing both openers, Tadiwanashe Marumani (7) and star player Brian Bennett (15).
Dealing with the bowling quality of this unbeaten South African side was always going to be problematic for the Chevrons.
Zimbabwe ended the powerplay with 45 runs on the board for the loss of two wickets. The Chevrons struggled for stability in the middle overs after sliding to 87/5 in the 12th over.
South Africa further pegged their northern neighbours back, claiming the wickets of Dion Myers (11), Ryan Burl (5) and Tony Munyonga (2) cheaply in the middle overs. Kwena Maphaka and Corbin Bosch took two wickets each for South Africa.
But skipper Raza held the Zimbabwe innings together with a brilliant knock that comprised eight boundaries and four sixes.
Clive Madande weighed in with 26 runs from the 20 deliveries that he faced after coming in at number seven.
Raza, however, felt Zimbabwe fell short with the bat.
“I thought 180 would be par on that wicket because it was slightly on the skinny, low side. I thought maybe 170, 175 would be a very good total on that wicket.
“True to that, if we got to that, I thought it would have been a very interesting game.
“Without the wickets or the runs, if the leader stands up, it gives a lot of confidence to the team,” said Raza.
Zimbabwe yesterday made three changes as Madande, Wellington Masakadza and Graeme Cremer came in for Tashinga Musekiwa, Tinotenda Maposa and Richard Ngarava.
The Chevrons jolted the Proteas almost immediately, Raza claiming the wicket of Quinton de Kock (0) with the third ball of the first over.
The Proteas were two wickets down as one of their big guns, Aiden Makram (4), was clean bowled by the Zimbabwe captain in the third over.
The Proteas had lost three wickets at the end of the power play overs with 44 runs on the board following the fall of Ryan Rickelton (31 from 22).
Dewald Brevis was the highest scorer for South Africa with a feisty 42 from 18 balls, after smashing a quartet of maximums and two boundaries as the Proteas reached the target with 13 balls to spare.
Apart from Raza, Blessing Muzarabani and Bradley Evans also picked a wicket each.
While Zimbabwe is now heading back home, South Africa are now preparing to play New Zealand in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Their captain, Makram, said: “Some good things to take and very grateful for the win as well . . .
“It’s exciting. Really exciting — a semi-final in Kolkata against New Zealand. The boys will be up for it. It’s still 40 overs of good cricket needed and we need to give it that respect.”
