New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Corbin Bosch and Anrich Nortje shared five wickets between themselves before Dewald Brevis and Ryan Rickelton hit brisk 30s respectively as South Africa maintained their unbeaten record by registering a six-wicket win over the UAE in their final Group D match of the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
The result ensured the Proteas go to the Super Eights as the lone unbeaten team from their group, finishing with four wins from as many games. They will next face defending champions India in their opening Super Eights game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Under overcast skies and with floodlights turned on, Bosch used the damp conditions well and short balls to great effect to pick 3-12, while Nortje took 2-28. Left-arm spinner George Linde kept things tight with 1-17 as UAE's innings lost momentum after a brisk start and eventually made 122/6.
South Africa’s aggressive approach in the powerplay, where they hit 11 boundaries and a six to reach 58/2, effectively settled the contest. Though they lost Aiden Markram early after making 28 off just 11 balls, Rickelton steadied the innings with a fluent 30 off 16 balls. Brevis struck a four and three sixes in making 36 off 25 balls, as the Proteas reached the target in 15.4 overs to maintain their unbeaten slate in the league stage.
Pushed into batting first, Kagiso Rabada found pace and bounce, though Aryansh Sharma top edged him for a six in the opening over. A change in bowling plan for Rabada didn't work well as Muhammad Waseem smacked him for three consecutive boundaries. The pair added 36 runs for the first wicket before Linde's introduction in the fifth over provided the breakthrough for South Africa as he trapped Waseem lbw for 22.
Bosch tightened the screws when he dismissed Aryansh with a short ball, top-edged to Quinton de Kock for 13. Bosch struck again in his next spell, removing the in-form Sohaib Khan for six, as he edged behind to de Kock moving to his right.
Linde and Nortje kept the pressure on UAE, with Linde accounting for Syed Haider - a top-edge pulled to mid-wicket. Amidst all this, Alishan Sharafu gave 14,400 fans plenty to cheer by striking five fours and a six to make 45 off 38 balls. He had a charmed life with two reprieves, but Nortje took him out when he pulled to mid-wicket, who ran back to take the grab and avoided a collision with his team-mates.
Sharafu's dismissal ensured UAE didn't get the required finishing kick as Bosch returned to dismiss Muhammad Arfan for 11. UAE never recovered momentum after the power-play, as they made 25 runs in the last five overs.
South Africa's innings began after a 45-minute rain delay. After Dhruv Parashar kept things tight by conceding only one run in the opening over, Aiden Markram broke free by flicking Junaid Siddique for two boundaries, before de Kock thumped him over mid-wicket for a third boundary of the over.
Markram followed it up by taking Haider Ali to the cleaners - flicking, cutting, pulling and slicing for three fours and a six. But Haider struck back by drawing Markram to pull and hit top of leg-stump for 28 off just 11 balls.
De Kock then took charge, pulling and cutting Siddique for boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking. Rickelton joined in by punching Parashar off the back foot for four and cutting Muhammad Jawadullah twice. But Jawadullah turned the tide in the fifth over by dismissing de Kock, who sliced to deep backward point.
With Rickelton around, Brevis announced himself with a flurry of strokes - edging Jawadullah for four, and then launched him to the top tier at mid-wicket for a six that drew gasps of awe from the crowd. He followed it up with another maximum over extra cover off Haider Ali, while Rickelton pulled and slog-swept Muhammad Farooq for a brace of maximums.
Though Rickelton fell when he mistimed a pull to deep square leg off Farooq for 30 off 16 balls, Brevis entertained the crowd with a nonchalant smash over long-on fence off Muhammad Arfan, before mistiming a slog to long-off.
Tristan Stubbs and Jason Smith knocked off the remaining runs to ensure South Africa entered the Super Eights with another commanding win. Despite dropping four catches in the field, the Proteas had done enough to complete their group stage commitments with an unbeaten record.
Brief Scores: UAE 122/6 in 20 overs (Alishan Sharafu 45, Muhammad Waseem 22; Corbin Bosch 3-12, Anrich Nortje 2-28) lost to South Africa 123/4 in 13.2 overs (Dewald Brevis 36, Ryan Rickelton 30; Muhammad Arfan 1-16, Muhammad Farooq 1-19) by six wickets.
--IANS
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