Lungi Ngidi’s four-wicket haul and skipper Aiden Markram half century helped South Africa defeat Canada by 57 runs in the ICC T20 World Cup clash at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad .
Chasing a mammoth target of 214 runs, Ngidi removed Canadian skipper Dilpreet Bajwa on the very first ball. In the third over, Lungi Ngidi struck twice, removing Yuvraj Samra’s bat, with Quinton de Kock safely completing the job and Nicholas Kirton to leave Canada reeling at 26/3.
Shreyas Movva and Navneet Dhaliwal hit a couple of boundaries before Kagiso Rabada knicked an edge off Movva to leave Canada reeling at 45/4 within the powerplay.
Harsh Thaker joined Dhaliwal at the crease, and the duo took the score past 100 runs at the end of 14 overs before Lungi Ngidi struck again in the very next over, removing Harsh Thaker for 33 off 29 balls, with two fours and as many sixes.
Navneet Dhaliwal reached his fifty in 39 deliveries during the fourth ball of the 17th over as Canada scored 132/5. During the 18th over, left-arm seamer Marco Jansen struck twice, removing Saad Bin Zafar (11 off 12 balls, with one four) and Jaskaran Singh for a golden duck as Canada crumbled to 138/7.
Canada managed to reach 156/8 as they lost the one-sided contest by 57 runs. For South Africa, Lungi Ngidi took a four-wicket haul. The pacer had a brilliant figure of 4/31. Marco Jansen (2/30), Kagiso Rabada (1/40), and Corbin Bosch (1/27) were also among the wicket-takers.
Batting first, South Africa set a mammoth target of 214 runs for Canada after skipper Dilpreet Bajwa-led opted to bowl first. Proteas skipper Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock added 70 runs for the first wicket. Markram made 59 runs off 32 balls and hit 10 fours and one six in his knock. Ryan Rickelton played a cameo of 33 off 21 balls, including three fours and one six.
Saad Bin Zafar came to bowl the 11th over, and Rickelton welcomed him with a six. Markram hit him for a four, then Rickelton finished the over with another boundary to complete the 50-run stand between the two.
Ansh Patel dismissed Rickelton on the first delivery of the over. David Miller replaced him at the crease, and Patel dismissed Dewald Brevis too on the fifth delivery of the over. Brevis made six runs with the help of just one boundary.
David Miller and Tristan Stubbs added 75 runs off 37 balls for the fifth wicket and took South Africa to 213/4 in 20 overs. Miller made 39 not out off 23 balls, and Stubbs remained unbeaten on 34 off just 19 balls.
Miller and Stubbs added 21 runs from the final over of the match, which included three sixes – two from Miller and a mammoth six on the last delivery from Stubbs. Ansh Patel took three wickets while conceding 31 runs in his four overs. Bajwa grabbed the priceless wicket of de Kock.
Brief Score: South Africa 213/4 (Aiden Markram 59, David Miller 39; Ansh Patel 31/3), Canada 156/8 (Navneet Dhaliwal 64, Harsh Thaker 33; Lungi Ngidi 4/31).
