THEY came, they saw, and they were beaten. But they were not disgraced and they did not choke. Instead, SA went down fighting in their World T20 semi-final against India in Dhaka last night.
SA did themselves the favour of putting up a challenging total of 172/4. Never in the 69 T20s they had played before yesterday had a team chased down more than 165 to beat them.
That alone means India deserved to win, which they did by six wickets with five balls remaining.
India, then, the better team last night, will meet Sri Lanka in the final in Dhaka tomorrow.
For that, Virat Kohli deserves much of the credit. His 72 not out, as commanding an innings as any yet seen in the WT20, flowed off 44 balls and was studded with five fours and two sixes.
Faf du Plessis’ innings was almost as good. Perhaps he was tired of hearing that AB de Villiers is a more fluent batsman then he is.
Perhaps he understood that his team needed an ABesque innings from him.
Either way, that’s what Du Plessis delivered in the shape of his 58 off 41 balls – SA’s key batting performance.
Hashim Amla’s 22 was important, especially after the loss of Quinton de Kock to the fourth ball of the match. JP Duminy and David Miller, meanwhile, kept SA’s momentum on the boil in their unbeaten stand of 43 off 27 balls.
But, on a night when De Villiers misfired – he came in at No5 in the 14th over and was caught on the boundary for 10 – Du Plessis was the difference between a competitive and a mediocre total.
He had again come in at No3, but this time he let loose like he had not done earlier in the tournament. With Amla, Du Plessis shared 35 off 27 balls for the second wicket.
Then he and Duminy put on 71 off 52 for the third.
Thanks largely to Du Plessis, India were put under pressure for the first time in the tournament and it showed as their bowlers’ line and length suffered and their fielding standards slipped.
Du Plessis was removed in the 14th over when he tried to have a carrom ball from Ravichandran Ashwin somewhere over a rainbow.
He missed, but the ball didn’t: it hit him in the ribs and ricocheted from there onto his stumps.
Ashwin, working his carrom overtime, also claimed the big wickets of Amla and De Villiers.
India’s reply began with a roar as Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane took three fours off the first over, which was bowled by Duminy.
The dismissal of both by the 10th over did not solve the problem: Kohli was still there. That still held true when Yuvraj Singh went in the 16th.
The match turned conclusively in the 17th over of India’s innings, which was bowled by Wayne Parnell.
Kohli had faced 36 balls by that stage – too many for him to be troubled by Parnell’s barrage of short deliveries.
Kohli drilled Dale Steyn through midwicket for four to clinch the win and end SA’s dream. But, for once, there was no nightmare.
PROTEAS BOW OUT
SA did themselves the favour of putting up a challenging total of 172/4. Never in the 69 T20s they had played before yesterday had a team chased down more than 165 to beat them.
That alone means India deserved to win, which they did by six wickets with five balls remaining.
India, then, the better team last night, will meet Sri Lanka in the final in Dhaka tomorrow.
For that, Virat Kohli deserves much of the credit. His 72 not out, as commanding an innings as any yet seen in the WT20, flowed off 44 balls and was studded with five fours and two sixes.
Faf du Plessis’ innings was almost as good. Perhaps he was tired of hearing that AB de Villiers is a more fluent batsman then he is.
Perhaps he understood that his team needed an ABesque innings from him.
Either way, that’s what Du Plessis delivered in the shape of his 58 off 41 balls – SA’s key batting performance.
Hashim Amla’s 22 was important, especially after the loss of Quinton de Kock to the fourth ball of the match. JP Duminy and David Miller, meanwhile, kept SA’s momentum on the boil in their unbeaten stand of 43 off 27 balls.
But, on a night when De Villiers misfired – he came in at No5 in the 14th over and was caught on the boundary for 10 – Du Plessis was the difference between a competitive and a mediocre total.
He had again come in at No3, but this time he let loose like he had not done earlier in the tournament. With Amla, Du Plessis shared 35 off 27 balls for the second wicket.
Then he and Duminy put on 71 off 52 for the third.
Thanks largely to Du Plessis, India were put under pressure for the first time in the tournament and it showed as their bowlers’ line and length suffered and their fielding standards slipped.
Du Plessis was removed in the 14th over when he tried to have a carrom ball from Ravichandran Ashwin somewhere over a rainbow.
He missed, but the ball didn’t: it hit him in the ribs and ricocheted from there onto his stumps.
Ashwin, working his carrom overtime, also claimed the big wickets of Amla and De Villiers.
India’s reply began with a roar as Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane took three fours off the first over, which was bowled by Duminy.
The dismissal of both by the 10th over did not solve the problem: Kohli was still there. That still held true when Yuvraj Singh went in the 16th.
The match turned conclusively in the 17th over of India’s innings, which was bowled by Wayne Parnell.
Kohli had faced 36 balls by that stage – too many for him to be troubled by Parnell’s barrage of short deliveries.
Kohli drilled Dale Steyn through midwicket for four to clinch the win and end SA’s dream. But, for once, there was no nightmare.
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