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Another tight match for South Africa, who appear to have developed a habit of eluding scrutiny at the T20 World Cup in 2024. They were pushed this time around by the USA, who performed admirably in their maiden Super Eight encounter.
USA restricted South Africa to less than 200 from 126 for 1 in the 13th over on a wicket that was favourable to batting. After South Africa was set up by Quinton de Kock’s maiden half-century of the tournament, Harmeet Singh and Saurabh Netravalkar combined for three wickets for fifteen runs, but the remainder of the attack was unable to muster enough assistance. With a fifth-wicket partnership of 53 between Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs, South Africa had a respectable total to defend.
De Kock eventually unleashed the big guns in what might be his final overseas assignment, after scores of 20, 0, 18, and 10. Reeza Hendricks’ six over cover was South Africa’s first boundary, which he failed to hit. It took him till the fourth over to properly grab one, but once he did, he did not quit. With the wind blowing against his leg side, De Kock first dragged Jasdeep Singh through midwicket before hitting him for three straight sixes. De Kock proceeded to reach his highest T20 World Cup score of 74 and reach fifty with a six off Corey Anderson, the 26th ball he faced.
With Anderson using superb judgement to skier off Hendricks’ top-edge in the third over to Shayan Jahangir, who judged his distance from the boundary rope well at cow corner to finish de Kock’s knock, the USA’s fielding put them back into the game. However, it was Ali Khan who leaped forward to seize the opportunity to change the score of the innings as he rushed in from the deep backward point boundary. With 46 on his scorecard, Aiden Markram hit Ali with the final ball of the 15th over. He pulled off a stunning stroke to prevent the captain of South Africa from raising the score past 200. Even yet, the USA’s bowling will not please them after giving up 53 runs in the last five overs.
Steven Taylor gave the USA a strong start, but Kagiso Rabada’s double strike in the Powerplay levelled the score. With the USA needing 28 runs off the final 12 balls, he returned to bowl the penultimate over and ended the partnership that looked to put the game out of reach.
Gous, who shares a hometown with Dean Elgar, was among the South Africans who accepted offers to play in the Minor League right before the Covid-19 outbreak. Three months ago, he made his debut on the international scene, relishing the opportunity to play against his birth country and thoroughly enjoy himself.
The finest came in the eighteenth over, when he smashed Shamsi for back-to-back sixes to keep the United States in the match. After needing 50 from the final three overs, they could only get 28 from the final two. Even though Gous finished undefeated with a career-high 80, it was ultimately insufficient.