Raza’s all-round exploits in vain as Proteas maintain clean sheet

Sikandar Raza reinforced his status as the numero uno T20I all-rounder with an all-round performance against South Africa on Sunday but Zimbabwe still went down in their final Super Eights fixture. Raza first shone brightly with the bat by scoring almost half of his team’s total and then came back with the ball to ring the alarm bells in the South African camp but the tournament’s only unbeaten team so far continued on their merry way by registering another victory.

After restricting Zimbabwe to 153/7, the Proteas chased down the target in 17.5 overs. Notably, Ryan Burl then made his presence felt in the field as he took two brilliant catches to send back Ryan Rickelton (31) and Dewald Brevis (42). South Africa will now head to Kolkata to take on New Zealand in the first semi-final on March 4.

It may not have been a fairytale finish for the Chevrons, but Zimbabwe have been the story of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Having missed out on the 2024 edition, the underdogs recorded their best finish at a T20 World Cup as they reached Super Eight as group toppers in the marquee event.

Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 153/7 in 20 overs (Sikandar Raza 73; Kwena Maphaka 2/21, Corbin Bosch 2/40) lost to South Africa 154/5 in 17.5 overs (Dewald Brevis 42, Ryan Rickelton 31; Sikandar Raza 3/29) by 5 wickets