NEW DELHI: South Africa survived a spirited challenge from Zimbabwe to secure a five-wicket victory on Sunday and set up a semi-final against New Zealand at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Chasing 154 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the 2024 runners-up reached 154-5 in 17.5 overs, sealing their seventh straight win of the tournament and remaining the only unbeaten side in the 20-team competition.
An explosive 42 off 18 balls from Dewald Brevis proved decisive as wickets fell around him.
George Linde (30 not out off 21) and Tristan Stubbs (21 not out off 24) added an unbeaten 53 to guide South Africa home with 13 balls to spare.
Early Wobble in the Chase
South Africa’s pursuit began shakily. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza struck with the third ball of the innings, removing Quinton de Kock for a duck.
He then bowled skipper Aiden Markram for four in the next over.
Ryan Rickelton, who was struck on the helmet by a bouncer from Brad Evans, took time to recover before counter-attacking with two straight sixes.
He made 31 off 22 balls before falling.
From 43-3, Brevis and David Miller rebuilt the innings.
The pair added 50 runs for the fourth wicket in just 25 balls.
Miller scored 22 off 16 before he was dismissed by Blessing Muzarabani.
Raza returned to remove Brevis, finishing with 3-29. At 101-5, Zimbabwe sensed an opening, but Linde and Stubbs calmly steered South Africa to the target.
“Nice to get the win,” Markram said after the match.
Former Australia wicketkeeper Ryan Campbell said that South Africa “are going to be hard to stop”, praising their belief and squad depth.
Raza’s lone fight
Earlier, Zimbabwe posted 153-7 after choosing to bat.
Raza led from the front with a defiant 73 off 34 balls, striking eight fours and four sixes.
He reached his half-century in 29 balls before falling to left-arm quick Kwena Maphaka, caught by Miller off a leading edge.
Zimbabwe lost in-form opener Brian Bennett for 15, having previously scored an unbeaten 97 against India in the Super Eights.
Clive Madande provided late impetus with 26 not out off 20 balls, helping Zimbabwe cross the 150 mark.
Maphaka was the pick of the South African bowlers with 2-21 from four overs. Corbin Bosch claimed 2-40.
Semi-final line-up takes shape
South Africa had already secured qualification for the semi-finals and rested Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj for the dead rubber.
The victory confirms a last-four clash against New Zealand on Wednesday.
The result also means England, who topped Group 2 in the Super Eights, will face either India or West Indies in the semi-finals.
Those two sides meet in the final Super Eights fixture, with the winner progressing.
South Africa are chasing a maiden T20 World Cup title after finishing runners-up in 2024.
With seven wins from seven matches, they head into the knockout stage with momentum — even if Sunday’s performance was less than fluent.
