First Triple Header Starts with a Bang
October 27th marked the first triple header of the tournament. From South Africa’s dominant win to the single run victory by Zimbabwe it was a day filled with highs and lows.
South Africa recorded their first win in the Super 12 with a resounding 105-run victory over Bangladesh. Rilee Rossouw became the first South African player to score a century at a T20 World Cup with 109 runs.
His partnership with Quintin De Kock was key for South Africa as it contributed to 163 runs out of the team total of 205 runs. The 163 runs is the second-highest partnership in the tournament’s history. The Proteas will look forward to their game with India on Sunday with confidence.
Bangladesh on the other hand will look to rebound with a win in their next game versus Zimbabwe on Sunday.
In the second game of the triple header, India came up triumphant over the Netherlands winning by 56-runs. After losing KL Rahul relatively early, India bounced back with half-centuries from Rohit Sharma (53), Virat Kohli (62) and Suryakumar Yadav (51).
India’s bowlers also were excellent with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin getting 2 wickets each. With this win, India remain unbeaten and top Group 2 with South Africa next.
As for Netherlands, they go into their next match versus Bangladesh knowing that they must win to have any chance of progressing into the semi finals.
The final game of the triple header was by certainly one of the major upsets of the tournament. Zimbabwe stunned Pakistan to win by 1 run in a game that went down to the final ball.
Pakistan needed 11 runs from the final over to win the game but Zimbabwe and particularly Brad Evans held their nerve. On the last ball, Shaheen Shah Afridi desperately tried to go for 2 runs to tie the match but wicket-keeper Regis Chakabva recovered after initially fumbling the ball to secure the win for Zimbabwe.
Pakistan now need to win their next match versus the Netherlands and hope other result go their way to secure a semi final spot. Zimbabwe on the other hand are enjoying their best ever T20 World Cup run and will look to upset Bangladesh in their next match.
