AHMEDABAD: Two unbeaten teams, South Africa and West Indies, will face off in a battle that will decide India’s ultimate fate in the T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday afternoon. While the winner will all but seal a spot in the semi-finals, Indian fans are hoping that South Africa will be that team. India and West Indies will face off in a virtual penalty shootout in Kolkata on Sunday if South Africa wins and India beats less-fancied Zimbabwe in Chennai later tonight. Otherwise, India will have to play the net run rate game even if they beat Zimbabwe by a big margin.
The West Indies team performed surprisingly well in this tournament. They rediscovered their talent and played like a team that dominated the format between 2012 and 2016, when they became T20 world champions twice. However, West Indies’ power batsmen will face a tough challenge from South Africa’s pace attack, who looked incredible in their emphatic win over India at the same venue. The South African team has been in Ahmedabad for the past two weeks. They did a great job of decoding what was going on at the venue.
After West Indies’ 107-run victory over Zimbabwe in Mumbai, the batsmen relied heavily on the in-form No. 3 Shimron Hetmyer. With Roffman Powell, Sherfan Rutherford, Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder in the batting line-up, the West Indies team has explosive power.
