Story
South Africa's 7/7 a T20 World Cup record, helps them enter semis
24 Jun, 2024
Proteas beat West Indies by three wickets in a rain-affected match to reach the semi-finals and join England in the last-four stage from their group
South Africa won their seventh successive match at the 2024 T20 World Cup which not only registered their place in the semi-finals but also made them the only nation to win these many games in a single edition of the biennial tournament.
They steered clear of Sri Lanka (six wins in 2009) and Australia (six each in 2010 and 2021).
The Super 8 game, played at North Sound in Antigua against co-host West Indies, was a do-or-die battle as a loss would have forced the Proteas out allowing the Caribbean team to advance.
Batting first, West Indies were restricted to 135/8 in 20 overs with Roston Chase scoring 52 off 42 balls and Kyle Mayers scoring 35 off 34 balls.
Beyond these two, everyone failed.
The chase was anything but easy. After rain intervention, South Africa were asked to reach 123 in 17 overs.
Tristan Stubbs (29 off 27) and Heinrich Klaasen (22 off 10) added 35 for the fourth wicket to put SA on course. However, regular fall of wickets put the pressure back on Proteas. It was then left to Marco Jansen to take his side past the target with a 14-ball 21.
Thanks to the three-wicket win, South Africa finished on top of the Super 8 Group 2 table with six points followed by England with four points.
T20 World Cup, South Africa, West Indies, semi-finals