Ahmedabad: South Africa rode on skipper Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen’s batting and bowling exploits to beat New Zealand by seven wickets and all but qualify for the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad Saturday.
Jansen recorded career-best figures of 4/40 as South Africa restricted New Zealand to 175 for 7 after opting to bowl in the crucial match.
Mark Chapman missed his personal milestone by a narrow margin when he fell for 48 to Jansen in the 14th over, but none of the other New Zealand batters could push on after making starts.
Finn Allen (31) and Daryl Mitchell (32) were also among the runs for the Blackcaps but they just could not find any momentum to push towards a big total.
Chasing, Markram made unbeaten 86 off 44 balls, which equalled his career-best T20I score, and Quinton de Kock scored 20 off 14 as the duo shared 62 runs off 28 balls for the opening stand, while Ryan Rickelton made 21 off 11 balls.
Dewald Brevis (21 off 17) made useful contribution before the duo of Markram and David Miller (24 not out of 17) closed out the contest, reaching 178 for 3 in 17.1 overs overs.
Brief Scores:
New Zealand: 175 for 7 in 20 overs (Finn Allen 31, Daryl Mitchell 32, Mark Chapman 48; Marco Jansen 4/40).
South Africa: 178 for for 3 in 17.1 overs (Aiden Markram 86 not out, David Miller 24 not out; Rachin Ravindra 1/9).
