South Africa had come into their final group encounter with a perfect record, and the UAE were never expected to stop them from maintaining that streak. And under overcast skies and a bit of unseasonal rain in the Capital, the Proteas prepared for their Super Eight encounter against favourites India with a six-wicket shellacking of the underdogs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday. The conditions for the morning game, and the pace and bounce in the South African attack – even though Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen were rested – was something the UAE team had rarely faced before. So, despite a decent start which took them to 36 for no loss after four overs, they could manage only 122/6 in their allotted 20 overs, a total that was overhauled in just 13.2 overs. “We have faced Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi, and other fast bowlers, especially at last year’s Asia Cup. But in the South African team, no pacer bowls slower than 140-145 km per hour. That took some getting used to,” UAE all-rounder Dhruv Parashar said. “Even while facing a top side like New Zealand, you can target a bowler of less pace like Jimmy Neesham. There’s no such opportunity against this team,” the 21-year-old born in Pune added. Also Read | T20 World Cup: Azmatullah Omarzai’s all-round heroics prove he’s Afghanistan’s go-to man in victory over UAE The Proteas pacemen didn’t make things any easier for the opposition and after a hectic start, relied on pace and bounce to test the UAE batters on the backfoot. The players representing the Gulf nation were often beaten for pace and their batters were hit on the helmet on more than one occasion. The run rate nosedived as a result and hovered around six an over for the rest of the innings. Corbin Bosch was the pick of the bowlers, snaring three victims for 12 runs in his four overs. Rabada targetted On the other hand, pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada – who bowled a nightmarish final over in the double Super Over win against Afghanistan, couldn’t buy a trick. He was targeted by UAE openers Muhammad Waseem and Aryansh Sharma. Even miscued shots landed in gaps while wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock’s drop off Aryansh was one of the four chances missed by Aiden Markram’s side, a rare off-day in the field for them. David Miller and Keshav Maharaj were also rested for the game and George Linde did his prospects no harm by exerting control inside the Powerplay and ending with figures of 1/17 in four overs.Story continues below this ad Alishan Sharafu was the highest scorer for the UAE with a 38-ball 45. A target of 124 was never going to test the Proteas and Markram effectively settled the game inside three overs with an 11-ball 28. The five fours and a six ensured that the rest of the batting line-up had nothing much left to do. Ryan Rickeleton (30 off 16 balls) and Dewald Brevis (36 off 25) warmed up for the next phase of competition with some centre-wicket practice. Every batter aimed for the stands, rather than getting some red ink against their name, which handed the UAE bowlers some wickets that didn’t matter in the context of the game. Brief Scores: UAE 122/6 in 20 overs (Alishan Sharafu 45; Bosch 3/12) lost to South Africa 123/4 in 13.2 overs (Brevis 36, Rickelton 30, Markram 28) by six wickets.
‘No pacer bowls slower than 140-145 km per hour,’ says UAE all-rounder Dhruv Parashar after big loss to South Africa
