Looking back: How the Proteas have fared at the T20 World Cup

South Africa is the only unbeaten team left in the tournament, heading into their last Super Eight match against Zimbabwe at the T20 World Cup in Delhi, India, tomorrow. The Citizenreportsthat with the Proteas already having qualified for the semifinals next week, with a match to spare, we look back at their campaign thus far. In their first group-stage match in Ahmedabad, the Proteas were not expected to be challenged by Canada, lying 14 places below them in the world rankings.

And they did not disappoint. Batting first, the Proteas were anchored by captain Aiden Markram, who hit a half-century at the top of the order as they coasted to 213/4. In response, the Canadians were restricted to 156/8, with seam bowler Lungi Ngidi (4/31) leading the Proteas attack to earn the player of the match award, as South Africa secured a convincing 57-run victory.

In the most thrilling match of the tournament, the South African side had to dig deep to edge Afghanistan in a hard-fought clash in Ahmedabad. The match ended in a tie during regular play, with both teams racking up 187 runs, and in the first super over, both sides then bashed 17 runs to take the game to a rare second super over. The Proteas compiled 23 runs in the second super over, and while Rahmanullah Gurbaz thumped three successive sixes for Afghanistan, he was removed off the final ball as they were contained to 19 runs.

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Facing higher-ranked New Zealand in Ahmedabad, a lot was riding on this game, but the Proteas had no real trouble holding off their opposition. After being sent in to bat, the Black Caps made 175/7, with seamer Marco Jansen spearheading South Africa’s attack by taking 4/40. With the bat, Markram again led from the front, racking up 86 not out of 44 deliveries as he guided his team to a seven-wicket victory with 17 balls to spare, boosting their confidence as they switched their focus to the next round of the tournament. Heading into their last fixture of the group stages, the Proteas had already qualified for the Super Eight round, but they managed to keep their momentum going with a six-wicket win in Delhi.

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