England secures place in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, South Africa beats West Indies by 3 wickets

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) — Fast bowler Chris Jordan bagged a hat trick and the U.S. cricket team lost five wickets in six balls as England secured its place in the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday.

Defending champions England crushed the United States by 10 wickets with 62 balls to spare in their last Super Eight match.

South Africa secured a place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2014 when they defeated co-hosts West Indies by three wickets in a thrilling rain-affected match in North South, Antigua. They advance from Group 2 together with England.

Both co-hosts, West Indies and United States, have now been eliminated.

Jordan, who replaced pacer Mark Wood, took four wickets from five balls in his final over to dismantle USA for 115 runs in 18.5 overs and became the first Englishman to claim a hat-trick in T20 internationals. He finished with 4-10 in 2.5 overs on the Caribbean island of Barbados where he was born.

“Very nice to do this in a special place like this,” says Jordan.

Captain Jos Buttler then hit 83 not out off 38 balls, including five sixes in one over against left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh, as England raced to 117-0 in 9.4 overs.

“I thought if we could bring our intensity we would be too good,” Buttler said. England started their innings knowing they had to surpass South Africa’s net run-rate by chasing the target in 18.4 overs, but ended the chase in less than 10 overs.

“We have great options. We wanted to bring back Chris Jordan and he also adds a bit of depth with his hitting ability,” Buttler said.

England, who also defeated the West Indies, finished the Super Eights with two big wins and a healthy net run-rate of 1,992. The huge win over the US means South Africa, who are unbeaten in six matches but have a net run-rate of 0.625, must avoid defeat to tournament co-hosts West Indies in Sunday’s other match to to qualify for the semi-finals together with England.

England squeezed the Americans in the middle overs through impeccable leg spin from man-of-the-match Adil Rashid (2-13 in four overs), while Liam Livingstone (1-24) also bowled well after Buttler won the toss and scored for chosen to play in the field.

Rashid, who did not concede a boundary, bowled two perfect googlies that stunned captain Aaron Jones (10) and top scorer Nitish Kumar (30).

The sensational collapse began at the end of the 18th over when Jordan caught Harmeet Singh at long-off – after Sam Curran’s full toss – and then bowled a pulsating 19th over.

Corey Anderson (29) bowled out a quick full toss from Jordan at the start of the over. Jordan’s third ball caused Ali Khan to cartwheel. Jordan then had Nosthush Kenjige pinned his leg before finishing a sharp incoming delivery and got his hat-trick by uprooting Saurabh Netravalkar’s middle stump to end the match.

Jordan is the second bowler at this World Cup after Pat Cummins to record a hat-trick. The Australian fast bowler conceded back-to-back hat-tricks Bangladesh And Afghanistan.

Buttler smashed seven sixes and six boundaries. Phil Salt (25 not out) cheerfully gave the goal to his skipper.

The Americans’ fairytale World Cup debut, including a historic victory against heavyweight Pakistan ended with three consecutive Super Eight losses earlier in the tournament.

Jones said his team ran out of steam against South Africa, West Indies and England in the Super Eight stage after his sensational power-hitting gave the US back-to-back wins over Canada and Pakistan in the first two matches during the group stage. .

“We haven’t played very well in the last two games,” Jones said, but added, “we’ve really enjoyed this tournament.”

Jones said his team had defied expectations.

“This is our first World Cup and I don’t think people thought we would be playing against the big boys here,” Jones said. “Hopefully this will open the eyes of the American public.”

South Africa is behind the West Indies to qualify

In North South, Antigua, tall fast bowler Marco Jansen became a hero with the bat as South Africa secured their place in the semi-finals with a thrilling three-wicket win over the West Indies in a rain-affected match.

As heavy rain fell in the middle of the match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, both teams were in anxious limbo for almost an hour.

West Indies had made 135-8 after being sent in and South Africa were 12-2 after two overs when a squall of heavy rain and wind swept over the ground. When the players returned, three overs had been lost and South Africa were chasing 123 off 90 balls.

The Proteas looked on their way to victory at 77-3 in the eighth over. But West Indies produced an extraordinary performance to force the match into the last over.

Earlier, Jansen was injured in a collision with Kagiso Rabada while fielding. In a twist of fate, it was those two players who found themselves in the crease as the match reached its climax.

South Africa needed twelve runs from nine balls when Rabada came to bat. He hit a four off the last ball of the penultimate over, leaving the Proteas needing five runs off six balls. Jansen then hit the first ball of the last over for six to win the match, finishing 21 not out.

“We keep finding a way to win these games no matter the situation,” said Tabraiz Shamsi, Player of the Match. “Our supporters probably want bigger wins. But things like this keep us in check and we were able to overcome these moments throughout the tournament.”

Earlier, Roston Chase made 52 off 42 balls and shared an 81-run third-wicket partnership with Kyle Mayers, which was the heart of the West Indies innings. Mayers, who made his first appearance at the tournament as a replacement for the injured Brandon King, opened the innings and made 35 off 34 balls.

West Indies suffered a huge setback when they lost big hitters Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran in the first two overs.

Pooran made 98 off 53 balls in the West Indies’ final group match against Afghanistan and Hope made 82 off 39 balls in his nine-wicket win over the United States on Friday.

But Hope was out for a first-ball duck on Sunday – no runs scored – until the third ball of the match and Pooran fell for one until the first ball of the second over.

Chase hit the first ball he faced for four and hit the first six of the innings off Keshav Maharaj in the fifth over. He also lived on his luck to some extent: he was dropped on 11 and 14 on his way to a half-century after 39 balls.

Tabraiz Shamsi took 3-27 and captain Aiden Markram bowled his four back-to-back overs at the top of the order to take 1-28.

South Africa also lost two wickets early on: Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock were run out in the second over of their innings before the rain started. With the help of Tristan Stubbs’ 29 from 27 balls they looked to have put themselves in a winning position, but in the end it came down to Jansen.

“Credit has to be given to the boys, I think we fought till the end,” said West Indies captain Rovan Powell. “I think it was a commendable bowling performance. After we made 135, we just decided to give it our all and whatever happens, happens.”

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