More relief than celebration for SA vs USA after 18-run win

Quinton de Kock admitted that his man-of-the-match award for an innings of 74 from 40 balls was a more a relief than a celebration as South Africa posted a total of 194-4 to beat co-hosts USA in their T20 World Cup Super Eight match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Wednesday.

The Proteas top order have struggled on poor batting pitches in New York and St Vincent but De Kock, Aiden Markram (46) and Heinrich Klaasen (36* from 22 balls) all enjoyed the improved conditions in Antigua.

“It was nice to get out on a decent wicket, we’ve had some tricky ones, the boys played really well but so did team USA who put us under pressure, especially towards the end, so it was a great game,” said De Kock after USA posted 176-6 in reply.

“We’ve still got a couple of games to win against some big teams, so there’s still a lot of work to be done,” said De Kock with games against England and the West Indies to come on Friday and Sunday.

Quinny joins an elite level of South African batters who have achieved 500 T20 World Cup runs 👏

SA 125/1 in 12 overs.

📺 Stream #T20WorldCup live: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw pic.twitter.com/NFMKTeX5Is

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) June 19, 2024

The USA seemed doomed to a greater defeat when they slumped to 76-5 but former SA Knights batsmen Andries Gous blasted an unbeaten 80 from 47 balls to keep his adopted country in the contest.

“Gousy played really well and made life hard for us but, if we’d tidied up on a couple of overs here and there, the result could have looked a bit more convincing, but we’ll take those lessons and work on them,” said captain Aiden Markram.

“We’ll take that finish, we’d rather get 194 than push for more and ‘blow out’ with 170. We can tidy up a few a few things, and we will, but I’m happy with the win,” Markram said.