T20 World Cup 2024: USA vs South Africa, 41st Match – Who Said What?

The United States of America showed that they don’t play the name, they play the game. Against South Africa, away from home, the experts didn’t give them any chance, but the Aaron Jones-led side played some brilliant cricket to send a message to the cricketing world. At the end, they did suffer an 18-run defeat, but there were a lot of positives for them. South Africa, on the other hand, won’t be disappointed with their effort, but there are a lot of things that the team needs to address ahead of the remaining two matches in the Super Eights.

Batting first, Quinton de Kock gave Proteas a flying start. He smacked 28 runs in the third over of the match which set the tone for them. The southpaw went on to smash 74 runs off 40 deliveries, while skipper Aiden Markram supported him well with 46 runs off 32 balls. Towards the end of the innings, Heinrich Klaasen showed his class, hitting 36 runs off 22 balls, while Tristan Stubbs made 20 runs off 16 balls. With the ball, USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar once again had a stunning night, picking up two wickets and giving away 21 runs in four overs.

Also Read – Quinton de Kock smashes Jasdeep Singh for 28 runs in his first over

When it came to the chase, USA lost early wickets. They never looked in the contest until Andries Gous and Harmeet Singh came to the party. Gous started slowly, but as the game progressed, he got better and eventually smashed 80* runs off 47 balls. Harmeet supported him well hitting 38 runs off 22 balls and at one time, it did look like they could still the game but Kagiso Rabada brought Proteas back into the contest. He gave away just two runs in the 19th over, which changed the game.

SA vs USA, Match 41 – Talking Points

1. So close, yet so far

Despite being an associate nation, USA fought hard and were close to pulling off an upset. A few overs here and there could have won them the match, but nevertheless, it was an outstanding effort from the team. The batters looked in good touch and if they can play with the same momentum, USA can upset either West Indies or England.

2. Big-match player aka Quinton de Kock

Leading up to the Super Eights, Quinton de Kock’s form was a huge matter of concern. He had a rough time in the IPL 2024 and failed to do well for South Africa ever since. However, against the USA, the southpaw looked in good touch right from the start and eventually played a massive part in their success. This should give him a lot of confidence going to the business end of the tournament.

Also Check: T20 World Cup 2024: SA vs USA, Match 41 Highlights: Unmissable video recap, turning points, match analysis, stats, and more

3. Kagiso Rabada activates beast mode

When all the other pacers in the team went for a lot of runs, Rabada gave away just 18 runs in his four overs and also picked up three wickets. He was the star with the ball and arguably pulled his team back into the contest. After Tabraiz Shamsi leaked 22 runs in the 18th over, and it needed something special, which is when Rabada bowled an extraordinary over, giving away just two runs.

Who Said What?

Losing skipper Aaron Jones said:

I don’t wanna say disappointed. I thought we could have been more disciplined with the ball. But it goes this way sometimes. I think we need to be more disciplined. We will try and go back to the board. And come back stronger. Happy to be going home. I know the conditions well.

Winning skipper Aiden Markram said:

Gous played well. Made life tough for us. Couple of tidy overs from us and the margin could have been better. But lessons learnt. Nice start. At the half time, the wicket changed a little. It got slower. They bowled well. We would have loved to finish with a bang. Couple of lessons to take. Big for us that Quinny got his flow. Everyone else just chipped in. Couple of overs we could have tidied upon. A few executions here and there might have let us down. The wind was strong so I feel the bowlers have done a decent job.

POTM Quinton de Kock said:

There have been a few tricky wickets, nice to spend time out there. USA put us under pressure, it was a great game. Just trying to focus on scoring runs, rest of it will take care of itself. We have had a few tricky wickets coming into this game, so it was great to be out there. We still have a few games to win, we are coming up against big teams. It was a good game, but it changes next time. Different venue, different team, so you never know what’s out there.

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