New Delhi: Sikandar Raza’s sublime ball-striking stood out in an otherwise ordinary batting display as South Africa limited Zimbabwe to 153 for seven in their final Super 8 game of the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
Zimbabwe captain Raza hammered 73 off 43 balls while the other batters struggled to find the same flow against high quality pace.
The batters, barring Raza, tried to attack the likes of Kwena Maphaka, Anrich Nortje and the in-form Lungi Ngidi but were unsuccessful.
Maphaka and Nortje are not even part of the usual South Africa eleven with Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj rested from the inconsequential game heading into the semifinal against New Zealand in Kolkata.
Having done well to reach the Super 8, Zimbabwe have found it tough to replicate their league stage success against the bigger teams.
Raza knows what they need to do to consistently challenge the established teams but they are not there yet. Power-hitting is a critical aspect of the shortest format and the team needs more batters like Raza to put high quality attacks under pressure.
On Sunday, openers Tadiwanashe Marumani (7) and Brian Bennett (15) began well against left-arm spinner George Linde but could not force the pace against the pacers.
Left-handed Marumani saw his leg-stump rattled as he attempted to smash left-arm pacer Maphaka out of the park.
Bennett has been consistent at the top of the order but when he tried to dispatch Anrich Nortje over mid-off he was not able to clear the fielder.
However, Raza batted like a man possessed after being hurried by Nortje on his very first ball.
He pulled Corbin Bosch for a six over deep backward square leg for a six besides collecting couple of fours in the sixth over, taking Zimbabwe to 45-2 in six overs.
Raza kept getting the big hits at will while he was disappointed to see wickets falling at regular intervals at the other end.
The Zimbabwe captain displayed that he was a cut above the rest in the Zimbabwe batting line up by backing away to Nortje for a drive past mid-off and a flat six over deep mid-wicket on the following ball in the eighth over.
He went on to make a well deserved half-century off 29 balls but the support act never came, leaving Zimbabwe with a below par total.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
