New Delhi. The US team may have lost a high-scoring match against South Africa, but there was a time when the African team seemed to be breathing heavily in the match. The main reason for this is the sharp batting of American opening batsman Andrew Gauss and middle order batsman Harmeet Singh. At one point, the American team seemed on the brink of defeat and both returned to the match. Gaus played an unbeaten innings of 85 runs off 27 balls. While Harmeet Singh scored 38 runs in 22 balls. Harmeet also took two wickets in two balls.
The American team needed 60 runs to win from the last four overs. Gauss was scoring half-centuries while Harmeet was also scoring runs at a fast pace. In the 16th over, both scored 10 runs with the help of fours. The 17th over was bowled by Tabrez Shamsi, both of whom bowled well together. Both scored a total of 22 runs with the help of three sixes in this over. Thus in the last two overs the team needed only 28 runs to win. It looked like the match could go down America’s throat if they continued to play like this.
Kagiso Rabada turned the match around
South African captain Aden Markram was seen in tension. He bowled his main bowler Kagiso Rabada in the 19th over instead of the 20th over. This decision proved correct. He got Harmeet Singh caught out towards square leg on the very first ball. From here the match was a mere formality. A total of two runs came in the 19th over. Seven runs came in the last over. In this way, South Africa won this match.
First published: June 20, 2024, 11:01 IST