Despite Andries Gous’ perfect 80 off 47 deliveries on Wednesday, the USA lost the Super 8 of the T20 World Cup 2024 in Antigua by an 18-run deficit.
Aaron Jones, the captain of the USA, won the toss and decided to field first against South Africa. Quinton de Kock hit 74 runs in 40 balls during the opening over, leading the Proteas to 194 runs in 20 overs. The team’s next-best scorers, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen, scored 46 and 36 runs, respectively.
As the co-host’s opener, Gous took over for captain Monank Patel, and he chased the run total until the innings’ penultimate over.
South Africa won the competition for the seventh consecutive year thanks to Kagiso Rabada’s dismissal of Jasdeep Singh, who needed to score 28 runs from 12 deliveries, with just two runs lost. At the end of their inning, the USA scored 176/6.
Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi navigated the USA through the middle, even if South African-born Andries Gous was perilously near to having the last say in the proceedings. His unbeaten 80-run innings and his 91-run partnership with Harmeet are the second-best partnerships for six wickets or less in T20 World Cup history. After holding the USA at bay with the help of Rabada and Anrich Nortje, South Africa eventually claimed their first Super Eight point.
Thanks to some audacious smashes from openers Steven Taylor and Andries Gous against spinner Aiden Markram and pacer Marco Jansen, the USA had a wonderful start. Taylor especially delighted in completely demolishing bowlers with some massive strikes. They did not, however, have the day to win the Super 8s. The USA has performed consistently throughout the competition in their prior encounters. But they were unable to score 18 runs against the South African team in this particular game.
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