Proteas remain just perfect

Proteas power on after low-scoring game at Trent Bridge

Match Summary

South Africa 130-5(A B de Villiers 63)
India 118-8 (R Sharma 29)
South Africa won by 12 runs.

Match Review

Directed from Sky Sports,

South Africa maintained their unbeaten record at the ICC World Twenty20, ensuring reigning champions India bowed out of the competition with a defeat in the process.

Chasing just 131 for victory at Trent Bridge, India capitulated from 48-0 in the seventh over to 118-8 - meaning the Proteas will stay in Nottingham to take on Pakistan in Thursday’s semi-final.

South Africa’s combined spin-bowling figures were 9-0-32-5, to India’s 14-0-75-4 - and that, combined with AB de Villiers’ 63, proved decisive in front of another dominant Indian crowd.

Already eliminated from the tournament following Super Eight defeats to West Indies and England, India lined up against the Proteas with nothing but pride to play for.

Impressive
Under-fire captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni lost the toss but was soon celebrating the early wicket of Herschelle Gibbs after Graeme Smith had opted to bat first.

The dangerous Gibbs (five) under-edged a pull onto his stumps off RP Singh in the second over, and Smith (26 off 26 balls) followed in the ninth when he holed out on the leg-side off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh.

However, de Villiers regularly found the boundary on both sides of the wicket as he took complete responsibility for South Africa’s total.

He struck Yuvraj Singh over extra-cover for his team’s first boundary in nine overs and added a second - his sixth in all - wide of long-on from the very next delivery to bring up a 41-ball half-century.

Despite the departure of JP Duminy, stumped off the bowling of left-armer Suresh Raina for 10, de Villiers tried to up the ante, and when he skied a return catch back to Ravindra Jadeja he had made significantly more than half his team’s 110-4.

South Africa managed to add only 32 in the last five overs and finished on a below-par 130-5.

That saw score didn’t look nearly enough when India openers Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir got their side off to a near-perfect start with a 48-run stand off just 38 balls.

Turning point
But it was at that point Smith turned to the off-spin of Johan Botha (3-16) for the first time, and with only his second delivery he had Gambhir caught at extra cover.

Four wickets then fell for 14 runs in 28 balls as a succession of batsmen failed to deal with spin on at both ends.

Even the big-hitting Yuvraj, dropped on nought when he offered a return catch to off-spinner Duminy, could not make the difference, and by the time he went caught behind off Dale Steyn in the 19th over, the game was up.

Steyn finished with 2-25 off three overs and left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe continued his fine tournament with 1-13 off his four overs.