🏏ICC T20I WC 2024: S8 - Match 41: USA vs South Africa @8:00 PM IST🏏

🏏ICC T20I WC 2024: Super 8 - Match 41: USA vs South Africa at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua on 19/06/2024 @8:00 PM IST🏏

[Tag and Logo credit to Wildestdreams]

Unbeaten South Africa in front as USA hope for more magic

Both teams will be looking forward to playing in North Sound after batting was a struggle in the games in America

Can USA slay another giant?

It's Super Eight time.

Before the start of the T20 World Cup 2024, the ICC had allotted pre-decided seedings to the eight top teams. A2 was given to Pakistan. The match timings were set according to what would be prime time in Pakistan and the rest of the subcontinent. But then a USA-sized blow hit Pakistan in their very first match and the tournament hasn't been the same since.

So USA, in their first T20 World Cup appearance, are now A2, and will kickstart the Super Eight stage against South Africa. As both teams head over to North Sound in Antigua - USA aren't quite at home anymore, note - they would hope for two things: better batting conditions and no rain.

South Africa are entering the Super Eight stage with an all-win record. But after their win over Sri Lanka in the first game, the rest could have gone either way. They found themselves at 12 for 4 chasing 104 against Netherlands, only scored 113 for 6 and won by four runs against Bangladesh, and scraped through by a solitary run against Nepal.

South Africa have lost 11 wickets and are averaging a mere 9.63 in the powerplay this World Cup - the third-lowest behind Uganda and Papua New Guinea. And none of their top-order batters have a strike rate of 100 in the first six overs.

Having said that, South Africa played three of their four games in New York, where batting conditions were far from ideal. And in hopefully better conditions in North Sound, they will hope the top order can finally flex their muscles.

USA, in foreign shores after playing 12 straight home games (of which two were abandoned), will hope for the fairy tale to continue. They showed their batting muscle in the opening game against Canada, and then restricted Pakistan to a middling total in the second game. Even against India, they had the opposition top order in a bit of early strife.

The likes of Aaron Jones, Saurabh Netravalkar and Monank Patel have shown they belong to this level of cricket. Now for them to give it another tilt and try to take another Full Member down.

USA vs SA: Pitch Report

It is expected to be overcast in the morning on Wednesday, June 19 in Antigua. There is no forecast of rain at the moment in Antigua, so that will be welcome news for the fans and both teams. Teams batting second have won 3 out of 4 matches here, so expect the captain winning the toss to bowl first.

Pitch and Weather Report: The pitch at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium is expected to offer initial assistance to fast bowlers with extra bounce. Spinners will also find the conditions favourable as the match progresses. The weather forecast suggests an overcast morning, but no rain is expected, making for ideal cricket conditions.

In the spotlight - Saurabh Netravalkar and Anrich Nortje

Left-arm quick Saurabh Netravalkar has been a star for USA in the powerplay, where he's picked up three wickets and gone at an economy of 4.57. He's found swing and shape consistently and even accounted for the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma already. Coder by day, fast bowler by night, he has had to extend his leave at his day job by a few more weeks and will want to make it count against a South Africa top order that is struggling for form.

Anrich Nortje had a forgettable IPL 2024, where he picked up just seven wickets in six games and went at 13.36. But, he's hit his straps from the get-go at the T20 World Cup. He's bowled with pace, he's been accurate, and, more importantly, has picked up wickets. After four games, Nortje is the joint-second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with nine wickets, and has bowled at an economy of just 4.37. His bustling pace might be useful against the USA batters who might not have faced such high speeds too often.

Stats that matter

• Nortje has picked up eight wickets in the middle phase, the second-highest after Adam Zampa's nine
• USA have the highest run rate against spin of all the teams in the tournament - 11.04; Jones has been striking at 263.33 against spinners in the World Cup 2024 (80 off 30 balls)
• South Africa have the second-best death-overs economy in this tournament - 5.27
• This will be the first T20I between the two sides

Quotes

"Still striving for that close to perfect game. I thought our bowlers so far throughout the comp have been really good for us and potentially bailed us out of jail once or twice. But it's understandably so. Conditions have been quite tough for us with the bat. It's a fresh start for us. Specifically, if you speak as a batting group, we get the chance to get to new conditions, hopefully slightly more batting friendly for us, and a good time for us to start peaking and finding some form moving forward in the competition."

South Africa captain Aiden Markram hopes for better batting conditions in West Indies

"Myself, and Steven [Taylor], we have a lot of support in the Caribbean So we'll definitely have some support tomorrow for sure as it relates to the whole team. I think a few people from USA actually flew to the Caribbean to support us. So, it's really good but that's no face for us. We just want to play hard cricket regardless of the situation."

Aaron Jones is expecting good support for USA in Antigua

Probable Best Performers

Probable Best Batter: Heinrich Klaasen

It would be unwise to be misled by the wicketkeeper-batter's 72 runs in the four group-stage games. Considering his explosive performances in IPL 2024 and the relatively favorable batting conditions in North Sound as compared to the venues South Africa played during the group stages, Klaasen could be anticipated to aggressively target the spirited yet inexperienced bowling lineup of the USA.

Probable Best Bowler: Anrich Nortje

After a disappointing performance against the West Indies in the T20I series preceding the 20-over World Cup, the speedster has made an exceptional comeback. Currently, the ongoing edition's second-leading wicket-taker, Nortje has been consistently accurate and has reaped the rewards. He would be eager to maintain his form and deliver a strong spectacle with the ball again.

Batters To Watch(recent stats)

Reeza Hendricks,  SA

10 M • 276 Runs • 27.6 Avg • 133.33 SR

David Miller,  SA

6 M • 153 Runs • 38.25 Avg • 107.74 SR

Andries Gous,  USA

9 M • 263 Runs • 29.22 Avg • 143.71 SR

Monank Patel,  USA

7 M • 240 Runs • 34.29 Avg • 138.72 SR

Bowlers To Watch(recent stats)

Anrich Nortje,  SA

6 M • 9 Wkts • 6.5 Econ • 14.66 SR

Ottneil Baartman,  SA

5 M • 8 Wkts • 4.65 Econ • 15 SR

Saurabh Netravalkar,  USA

10 M • 12 Wkts • 6.97 Econ • 16 SR

Shadley van Schalkwyk,  USA

8 M • 8 Wkts • 8.73 Econ • 19.5 SR

Team Watch:

South Africa:The focus will be squarely on the batting line-up and whether it finally has its ducks in a row, but in a good way.

Tactics & Matchups: If South Africa want to see what a difference a second specialist spinner might make, this game is their safest way of finding out.

Probable XI: Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman, Tabraiz Shamsi

United States: Monank Patel is likely to return from the shoulder injury that kept him out of the match against India in Nassau County on Wednesday.

Tactics & Matchups: How the top order fares against South Africa's classy quicks will dictate the quality of the Americans' challenge.

Probable XI: Monank Patel (c), Steven Taylor, Andries Gous, Aaron Jones, Nitish Kumar, Corey Anderson, Harmeet Singh, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Jasdeep Singh, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ali Khan

When: South Africa vs United States, June 19, 2PM GMT, 10.30AM Local, 4.30PM SAST, 8PM IST

Where: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua

What to expect: A hot, humid day with a slight chance of a shower in the evening. Namibia were bowled out for 72 here and Oman for 47, but they were facing Australia and England.

Head to head in T20 World Cups: 0-0

The Americans would be forgiven for pinching themselves. Few would have expected them to reach this stage of the men's T20 World Cup. Yet there they are, among the elated eight teams who remain in the running and not one of the disappointed dozen who exited after the group games.

They had a little help from a washout against Ireland in Lauderhill on Friday. Perhaps the small Florida city should be renamed Laundryhill - three of the four games scheduled there suffered the same fate.

That's not to cast aspersions on the United States' progression. They hammered Canada in the tournament opener and then held their nerve to overcome Pakistan in a Super Over. Let there be no doubt that they are a proud and resourceful team.

Is it too much to hope that they could add South Africa to their list of felled giants in their match in North Sound on Wednesday? Probably, but no doubt many Pakistanis thought that before their bubble burst.

Besides, it's not as if the South Africans have been convincing. Batting conditions have been difficult, but that does not explain why they struggled to beat the Netherlands and Nepal. Although they have reeled off four consecutive wins, not one of them has been comfortably done. Their batting line-up might feel exposed and fragile as a consequence - which makes this the perfect time for them to be picked off by unfancied opponents.

And unfancied the Americans surely are. Saurabh Netravalkar is having a fairytale tournament and counts Mohammad Rizwan, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma among his wickets. He will need to be at least as good, and solidly supported, to be part of a victory. Similarly, Aaron Jones, Andries Gouws and Monank Patel will need to deliver the kind of batting that has earned them half-centuries.

That said, David Miller is South Africa's sole half-centurion. But Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman and Keshav Maharaj have all taken more wickets than Netravalkar.

Many will be rooting, as Americans would say, for a shock result. South Africans might be among them. Because that could, the theory will go, jolt Aiden Markram's team out of their strange and troubling batting funk. Rather now than when it really matters.