Raza's allround heroics in vain as South Africa stay unbeaten

Sikandar Raza reaffirmed his status as the No.1 all-rounder in the T20I rankings with a terrific all-round performance against South Africa on Sunday (March 1) but Zimbabwe still went down in their final Super Eights fixture. Raza first starred with the bat by scoring almost 50% of his team's total and then came back with the ball to cause some flutter in the South African camp but the tournament's only unbeaten team so far continued their rampage by registering another victory.

Zimbabwe started off well as Tadiwanashe Marumani hit the first ball of the match for a boundary, which was then followed by Brian Bennett smashing his first ball for a six as 13 runs came in the opening over. But a wild swing from Marumani in the second over saw him lost his leg stump to Kwena Maphaka, who was a part of three changes South Africa made to their XI having already made it to the semifinal. Bennett, who has had a memorable maiden ICC tournament, couldn't make a mark this time on a sunny Delhi afternoon as he was sent packing by Anrich Nortje. Out walked Raza with a purpose as he took Corbin Bosch to the clenears with two fours and a six to round off the Powerplay in positive fashion for the Zimbabweans.

The 39-year-old then hit Nortje for a four and a six as well to race to 31 off just 14 balls. But South Africa continued to make inroads as it was now George Linde's turn to strike with Dion Myers getting a top edge. Aiden Markram was welcomed into the attack with a six and a four in his first over from the Zimbabwe veteran before Lungi Ngidi and Bosch struck in successive overs to keep pegging Zimbabwe back. Raza eventually brought up a 29-ball fifty and then at one point looked in sizzling touch to make it count and double it.

Boundaries kept flowing as Zimbabwe found themselves at 110/5 with five overs still remaining and a marauding Raza still at the crease. But immediately after nailing another six off Maphaka this time, Raza miscued one off the very next ball to depart for 73. With that, Zimbabwe's hopes of getting closer to 170 went up in smoke but Clive Madanda did manage to drag them to 153.

With a par total to defend, Raza took the onus upon himself to cause some flutter in the South African camp. Opening the bowling, he got rid of Quinton de Kock as the left-hander edged one to the keeper while attempting a cut. In his next over, Raza managed to sneak one through Markram's defence as the ball kept a touch low to clatter the stumps.

Ryan Rickelton did counter attack with a few sixes but Brad Evans stopped his charge with a short ball that the left-hander miscued to get caught. By the end of the Powerplay, South Africa were reeling at 43/3, needing a partnership to get the chase back on track. Dewald Brevis, in usual fashion, counterattacked by first taking on Graeme Cremer for two sixes in an over. David Miller got into the act by ripping apart Wellington Mazakadza in his opening over with a couple of sixes and a four. That little boundary spree did enough to dampen the Zimbabwean spirits.

Even though Blessing Muzarabani came back to break the partnership and Raza backed it up with Brevis' wicket in his final over, South Africa still coasted to a victory. Any hopes Zimbabwe had of staging a comeback after Brevis' departure didn't materialise after Linde and Tristan Stubbs showed no signs of panic. The duo kept eating into the target with a measured partnership. The knockout blow then came from the bat of Linde as he hit a boundary each off Bennett and Burl before the duo finished the job with 13 balls to spare. South Africa will now head to Kolkata to take on New Zealand in the first semi-final on March 4.

Brief scores: Zimbabwe 153/7 in 20 overs (Sikandar Raza 73; Kwena Maphaka 2/21, Corbin Bosch 2/40) lost to South Africa 154/5 in 17.5 overs (Dewald Brevis 42, Ryan Rickelton 31; Sikandar Raza 3/29) by 5 wickets