West Indies proceed to semis, South Africa almost out of ICC T20 World Cup 2016

If England beat Sri Lanka on Saturday, South Africa will be knocked out of the tournament.

West Indies won their third straight game of the ICC World T20 2016 and earned themselves a place in the semifinal. Chasing paltry 123 against South Africa, West Indies reached the target in last over with three wickets in hand at Nagpur. Needing nine from last over Carlos Brathwaite smashed Kagiso Rabada for a six to make things easy for his side.  Also Check- South Africa vs West Indies Full Scorecard

South Africa now face a prospect of an early exit from the tournament. Proteas will have to wait for the England-Sri Lanka result on Saturday, and their chances for qualification will stay alive only if Sri Lanka manage to beat England.

The Faf du Plessis-led side then has to beat Sri Lanka in their last league game. If results go according to as stated, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka will be tied at four points each and net run-rate will come into the play. Also Check- South Africa vs West Indies- As it Happened 

Coming back to the match, West Indies chase got off to a jittery start when Kagiso Rabada removed dangerous Chris Gayle in the first over. Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles then stitched a small but valuable partnership to put West Indies back on the track.

A run-out which resulted in Fletcher’s dismissal brought South Africa back in the game. But the 42-run stand between Charles and Marlon Samuels made sure Windies stay in the hunt. Charles then was dismissed in 12th over with West Indies score reading 66 for three.

Few overs later, Dwayne Bravo was dismissed as well, opening the gates for South Africa. However, West Indies despite losing few wickets towards the end crossed the line with two balls to spare.

Earlier, West Indies bowled beautifully upfront to put South Africa in all sorts of trouble. Proteas lost half its side with just 47 on board. A fifty-run stand between Quinton de Kock and David Wiese then steadied the South African innings somewhat. With overs running out, de Kock looking to change gears lost his wicket and he fell three runs short of his half-century.

A couple of overs later South Africa lost important wicket of Wiese as well. And eventually were restricted to 122 for eight in their quota of 20 overs. Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo picked two wickets each.