Anrich Nortje kept his cool as South Africa remained unbeaten in the T20 World Cup, beating reigning champions England by seven runs in a thrilling Super Eight clash in St Lucia on Saturday morning (AEST).
England were aiming for 164 to win but slumped to 4-61 thanks to some excellent pitching and fielding from South Africa, but a partnership between Harry Brook (53) and Liam Livingstone (33) saw them score 78 in the 18th over to help them to 5-139.
But with England needing 14 in the final over, Brook tipped a slow ball from fast bowler Nortje to South African captain Aiden Markram, who, running back from mid-off, took a brilliant diving catch over his shoulder to end his innings off 37 balls, which included seven fours.
Two balls later, Sam Curran walked but did not hit a single, as that would have meant Jofra Archer, the lower-order batsman, would have struck out.
England needed nine from two balls but Curran could only get one and Archer was left with a seemingly impossible score off the final ball as the match finished at 6-156.
South Africa are often criticised for not being strong enough in major tournaments but they have performed well under pressure to move one step closer to a semi-final place.
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“To hang in there and win when it looks like you’re not going to win until the last three overs shows a lot of skill, but it comes from something much deeper than that,” Markram said.
“My fighting spirit really helped me today.
“We’re getting close to completion. We’re not there yet, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
“Brook and Livingstone played great together and put us within striking distance of victory,” England captain Jos Buttler said.
“We were dominant at one stage but T20 cricket is never that simple and South Africa deserve credit for coming away with the win.”
He added: “I know we can still win. We played well today but we just didn’t get the win.”
Proteas paceman Kagiso Rabada restricted the in-form Phil Salt to 11 but the England opener’s partner Buttler managed just 17 before being felled by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who in turn dismissed Jonny Bairstow with impressive figures of 2-32.
“You could say we lost the power play,” Butler said.
“Quinton de Kock came on and played with really good intent but we just couldn’t match it.
“I think we were about 20 runs behind them after the first six overs.”
Putting South Africa to bat, they were batting hard at 0-69 in the seventh over, with de Kock smashing fast bowler Archer for 21 in his fourth over, including two sixes off successive balls.
But he was cleverly caught by the leaping wicketkeeper Buttler off Archer’s ball to leave him on 65, having hit four fours and four sixes off a 38-ball innings.
But England thought they had de Kock dismissed for 58 when the third umpire adjudged Mark Wood’s low catch to have been hit onto the turf at deep – a crucial decision in a closely fought match.
De Kock’s dismissal triggered South Africa’s collapse, with hard-hitting Heinrich Klaassen being brilliantly run out by a direct hit from Buttler at the non-striker’s end.
But David Miller’s quick-fire 43 took South Africa to 163-6 and that was enough.