ICC T20 World Cup: Skipper Aiden Markram led from the front with an unbeaten 82 as South Africa chased down a challenging target of 177 runs in just 16.1 overs for the loss of one wicket to beat the West Indies by nine wickets in their second match of the Super 8 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.With this win, the Proteas remain unbeaten and are close to sealing a semifinal berth, while West Indies will face India in a must-win game. Earlier, the West Indies recovered from 52/4 in the Power-play to post 176/8, thanks to an 89-run stand between Romario Shepherd (52*) and Jason Holder (49). Lungi Ngidi (3-30) and Kagiso Rabada (2-22) led South Africa’s bowling effort.
In reply, Markram and Quinton de Kock (47 off 24) powered South Africa to 69 for no loss in six overs. After de Kock’s dismissal, Markram continued the assault, reaching his fifty in 27 balls. Ryan Rickelton remained unbeaten on 45 as South Africa completed the chase with 23 balls to spare.
All the stats from the West Indies vs South Africa match:
17 – Keshav Maharaj conceded 17 runs off the very first over of the match. These runs are the joint-most scored by the Caribbeans in the first over of an innings in the T20 World Cup. In the 2014 edition, they also got the same number of runs in the semifinal match off the bowling of Nuwan Kulasekara.
89 – Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder added (89) runs for the 8th wicket. This is a new partnership record for the 8th wicket for the West Indies inT20Is.The previous record was in the name of Romario Shepherd and Shamar Springer, who added 78 runs for the same wicket vs New Zealand at Nelson in 2025.
6 – West Indies have six 50-plus partnerships for the 8th wicket or lower in T20Is. Romario Shepherd is involved in all six.
4 – Romario Shepherd (52*) became the 4th batter to hit a 50-plus score along with a No.9 or lower batter in T20Is, second from a full member side after Tanzim Hasan Sakib of Bangladesh, who scored 50 against Pakistan in Lahore in 2025.
52* – Playing in his 78th T20I, Romario Shepherd (52*) recorded his highest score in T20Is, erasing his previous best of 49 v New Zealand in Nelson in 2025.
95 – The number of runs (95) added by Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock for the first wicket. This is the second-highest opening-wicket partnership for South Africa in a T20 World Cup, only behind 96 between de Kock and Hashim Amla against England in Mumbai in 2016.
14 – The number of half-centuries recorded by Aiden Markram (82*) in 75 matches. It was his 3rd 50-plus score in the current T20 World Cup.
264 – The number of runs (264) scored by Aiden Markram at an avg of 66. After Babar Azam (303) of Pakistan, he is now the second most successful captain to score the maximum runs in an edition of the T20 World Cup. Babar scored 303 runs at an avg of 60.60 in the 2021 edition.
Article Source: IANS