Aiden Markram put on a captain’s show in the Super 8s. He played an emphatic knock to power his side to a nine wicket win over West Indies at the 2026 T20 World Cup. South Africa stayed unbeaten and moved closer to the semi finals following the knock.
The Proteas captain scored 82* from 46 balls. He hit seven fours and four sixes. South Africa chased 177 with 23 balls left. The win took them two points clear at the top of Group 1 in the Super 8s. They are now close to a place in the semi finals.
Markram reached his fifty in just 27 balls. He added 95 runs for the first wicket with Quinton de Kock, who made 47 from 24 balls. Roston Chase removed de Kock in the eighth over. Ryan Rickelton then scored 45 not out from 28 balls at number three. Markram finished the match with his 11th boundary in Ahmedabad.
South Africa had earlier put West Indies under pressure. They took four wickets in the powerplay. At one stage, West Indies were 83 for seven. It looked like they would post a low total.
West Indies started fast. They hit 17 runs off the first over bowled by Keshav Maharaj. But they soon lost four wickets in 11 balls. They slipped from 29 without loss to 43 for four inside four overs. Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi took two wickets each.
Sherfane Rutherford failed to make use of an early chance. Rovman Powell and Matthew Forde also fell quickly. Then Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder came together in the 11th over.
The pair rebuilt the innings with care. After 15 overs, they began to attack. Shepherd moved from 21 off 17 balls to finish unbeaten on 52 from 37 balls. Holder scored 49 from 31 balls before he was run out off the second last ball. They added 89 runs for the eighth wicket.
West Indies scored 58 runs in the last five overs. Holder took 23 runs off the 18th over bowled by Marco Jansen. Their late fight helped them reach 176. But Markram and South Africa made sure the target was never enough.
