Proteas trounce New Zealand as England, Ireland post facile wins at T20 World Cup

Skipper Aiden Markram smacked 86 not out off 44 balls as South Africa beat New Zealand by seven wickets at the T20 World Cup on Saturday.

Markram’s innings included four sixes and eight fours and underlined a dominant performance by the Proteas, as they won with 2.5 overs to spare.

South Africa finished with 178-3 in reply to New Zealand’s 175-7 after left-arm pacer Marco Jansen picked 4-40 in four overs.

It was New Zealand’s first defeat in the tournament, while South Africa moved one step closer to the next round with three successive wins in Group D.

In Kolkata, England rebounded with a five-wicket win over Scotland thanks to Tom Banton’s 63 not out off 41 balls.

In the morning game at Colombo, Ireland thumped Oman by 96 runs to record its first win in three games at this T20 World Cup. Oman became the first team to be eliminated from the competition.

A crowd in excess of 50,000 - the highest for this World Cup - watched South Africa power its way to a win against the Black Caps with relative ease.

Put into bat, Jansen struck against the in-form top order. He had Tim Seifert caught behind for 13, while also accounting for Rachin Ravindra (13) and Finn Allen (31) in the space of four deliveries.

When Keshav Maharaj bowled Glenn Phillips for 1, New Zealand was down to 64-4 in 6.4 overs.

Meanwhile, England, desperately needing the victory following an unconvincing four-run win over Nepal and a loss to the West Indies, made 155-5 in 18.2 overs after the Scots were bowled out for just 152 in Kolkata.

Scotland wasted an ideal platform after getting to 90-3 in 10 overs, with the batters falling to mistimed sweep shots against the spinners.

England’s top-order batters Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and captain Harry Brook fell for single digits, but Banton put on 66 with Jacob Bethell (32) and 46 with Sam Curran (28) to lift the team to second in Group C behind West Indies. It next plays Italy on Monday.

Banton and Bethell rescued England from 13-2 before Scotland hit back with two wickets in eight balls. Bethell slog swept and was caught at fine leg, while Brook top-edged for four.

Earlier, England hit back in the closing overs after Scotland had looked poised to set a challenging target when 113-3 midway through the 13th over.

The dismissal of captain Richie Berrington, who made 49, and Tom Bruce (24) in the space of four balls left Scotland struggling to accelerate late on.

Berrington and Bruce put on 71 in 41 deliveries before spinners Adil Rashid (3-36) and Liam Dawson (2-34) grabbed five wickets in four overs.

Fast bowler Archer, who was expensive against Nepal and West Indies, dismissed George Munsey and McMullen in a double-wicket second over.

Earlier, in Colombo, Lorcan Tucker’s blistering unbeaten 94 off 51 balls earned Ireland its first win in the tournament as it crushed Oman in Group B.

Tucker, leading the side after Paul Stirling was ruled out of the World Cup due to a knee injury, powered Ireland to this tournament’s highest score of 235-5.

Gareth Delany hit 56 and George Dockrell smashed three sixes off the final three balls in a blazing 35 not out off nine deliveries.

In reply, Oman was bowled out for 139 in 18 overs after losing the last eight wickets for just 42 runs. Opener Aamir Kaleem (50) and Hammad Mirza (46) put on 73 for the third wicket, but the remaining lineup folded quickly. Fast bowler Josh Little grabbed 3-16.

Agencies