T20 World Cup, South Africa vs West Indies as it happened: Markram’s superb 51 guides Proteas home

Player of the match: Anrich Nortje

South Africa win by 8 wickets! On a tough day for them off the field, the Proteas have put up a brilliant performance on it pretty much all through. Defending champions West Indies will need a miracle to qualify from here.

Half century! What an innings from Aiden Markram. He levels the scores with a superb six.

SA 137/2 after 18 overs (Target 144): 4-0-23-0 for Bravo and Proteas have played him smartly.

SA 133/2 after 17 overs (Target 144): Two fours for Markram in DreRuss’ over and he has raced to 42 (22 balls). Finish line in sight for SA. 11 off 18 balls.

SA 121/2 after 16 overs (Target 144): Another superb over for SA to make sure there are no late nerves. RvdD has taken his time, struck well under 100 but he has hit two crucial fours at the start of the Bravo over.

SA 111/2 after 15 overs (Target 144): Rampaul comes into the attack and it is another lovely, lovely shot from Markram for six. Picks up the length and sends it over midwicket. SA needed that just to make sure WI didn’t start to control run-flow.

SA require 44 to win off 36 balls

SA 100/2 after 14 overs (Target 144): Great over from Bravo but SA can afford to play this given the match scenario. Four dot balls, followed by a couple of singles.

SA 98/2 after 13 overs (Target 144): A boundary for RvdD in that Russell over. SA doing this easily at the moment.

SA 91/2 after 12 overs (Target 144): Another huge six to finish an over. Markram is on fire! Pollard bangs one short, it is an offcutter but Markram is into position early and sends it over square leg.

SA 82/2 after 11 overs (Target 144) Huge six by Markram! He picks up the wrong ‘un from Walsh early and goes with the turn and sends it soaring over midwicket. Would love to know the distance on that once. A series of 2s in that over too. SA are cruising now.

SA 66/2 after 10 overs (Target 144) Hosein finishes with 4-0-27-1.

OUT!, SA 61/2 after 9.2 overs (Target 144): Superb from Hetmyer at long leg! Oh wait. Soft signal not out... for a catch close to the boundary line. Based on what exactly?! It’s one of those cricket things that makes little sense. Luckily for West Indies, no doubts about the catch. Hosein removes Hendricks for a 30-ball 39.

SA 60/1 after 9 overs (Target 144) Walsh with another tidy over. Five singles.

SA 55/1 after 8 overs (Target 144): Fifty partnership between Hendricks and vd Dussen! A four for the former in Bravo’s over, delightfully lofting a slower ball over cover.

DJ time. Can Bravo provide a couple of breakthroughs? Things starting to look a bit dicey for the champions

SA 47/1 after 7 overs (Target 144): Tidy first over from Walsh too. The boundaries have been cut out in the last couple of overs.

Walsh time for the Windies. They need wickets, they need to have a go at the SA middle order soon.

SA 42/1 after 6 overs (Target 144): A good (par perhaps) powerplay for SA after losing Bavuma in the first over. No risks taken against Hosein as Hendricks and RvdD see it out by rotating strike.

Left-arm spin for Hosein to finish the powerplay, with two RHBs in the middle

SA 36/1 after 5 overs (Target 144): Hendricks playing a little gem for his side (28 off 16 now). A four past midwicket as Russell drops one short. After a slow couple of overs, they have picked up the rate nicely.

DreRuss time.

SA 26/1 after 4 overs (Target 144): Keeping things going steady after a slow start. A four off Rampaul for Hendricks, playing a nice late cut.

Wouldn’t be the first time Vaughan has missed the point... Ravi Rampaul will continue.

SA 17/1 after 3 overs (Target 144): Hendricks with a six and four off Hosein and the South African chase is up and running.

Bavuma run out in the first over, thanks to a DreRuss dire hit. SA 6/1 after 2 overs.

Hendricks and Bavuma in the middle

Target for SA (apart from ironing out issues within their camp) is 144: Simmons’ bizarre innings at the top, Lewis and Pollard’s big hitting, Nortjes’s fiery spell... it was a rollercoaster innings in Dubai. Do the defending champions have enough?

West Indies 143/8 after 20 overs: Lendl Simmons 16 off 35 looks mighty costly at the moment for WI. Evin Lewis at the top and Kieron Pollard lower down did their bits to push the score past 140 but this is a score that feels well below par.

BACK-TO-BACK WICKETS! Smart field placement for SA, and a very straight mid-on ends Kieron Pollard’s brilliant cameo. Rassi van der Dussen with a sharp low catch. Next ball, Hayden Walsh gone.. 2-in-2 for Pretorius in the last over.

WI have struggled for momentum all through. 136/6 with an over to go.

OUT! WI 134/6 after 18.4 overs: It’s all unravelling for West Indies. Superb throw from Miller in the deep and well gathered by Klaasen.

OUT! WI 132/5 after 18.2 overs: 90+ mph yorker! Nortje with an absolute ripper to dismiss DreRuss. Full, fast at the base of the offstumps.

WI 131/5 after 18 overs: Pollard and DreRuss with two brutal hits down the ground, all power. Four each.

OUT! West Indies 121/4 (17.1 overs) Gayle falls at the start of the 18th over, Pretorius has him caught behind and that brings DreRuss to the middle with very little time to make an impact.

WI 121/3 after 17 overs: A no ball from Rabada proves costly, going for four off the free hit. Rabada comes back well from that start to make it just a 10-run over. Damage limited.

West Indies 111/3 after 16 overs: Huge over for Windies! A six each for Pollard and Gayle off Shamsi. The defending champions needed that.

STATEMENT FROM CSA:

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has noted the personal decision by South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock not to “take the knee” ahead of Tuesday’s game against the West Indies.

All players had been required, in line with a directive of the CSA Board on Monday evening, to “take the knee” in a united and consistent stance against racism. This is also the global gesture against racism that has been adopted by sportspeople across sporting codes because they recognise the power of sport to bring people together.

After considering all relevant issues, including the freedom of choice of players, the Board had made it clear it was imperative for the team to be seen taking a stand against racism, especially given SA’s history. The Board’s view was that while diversity can and should find expression in many facets of daily lives, this did not apply when it came to taking a stand against racism.

The Board will await a further report from team management before deciding on the next steps. All players are expected to follow this directive for the remaining games of the World Cup.

CSA thanks all other Proteas players for agreeing to unite and make such an important public stand against racism.

West Indies 95/3 after 15 overs: Another superb Nortje over, just two runs. 3-0-9-0 are the pacer’s figures at the moment. Gayle and Pollard will go big now, you’d think.

Stat courtesy ESPNCricinfo

Lendl Simmons. 16 off 35 balls, Strike Rate 45.71 Second lowest SR in history for a batter in men’s T20Is when facing minimum 35 balls playing for one of the full member ICC sides.

OUT! Lendl Simmons, bowled by Kagiso Rabada for 16 off 35 balls. One of the most bizarre T20I innings. A good slower ball from Rabada. He was at least out trying to play the big shots and not plodding around. Very little that can be said about that Simmons innings in positive light otherwise.

West Indies 89/2 after 13 overs: Gayle joins Simmons in the middle. He likes to take his time to get going too but can the West Indies afford it at the moment? Gayle survives a LBEW review

OUT! West Indies 87/2 after 12.2 overs: Pooran finds the fielder at long off. Maharaj strikes. WI simply have to keep going from one end given the overs that have been used by Simmons. Timed well by Pooran but not enough elevation. Really good catch by Miller too.

WI 86/1 after 12 overs: Simmons continuing to play for the singles... perhaps he has been asked to? Perhaps the idea is for him to bat 20 after what happened against England? But how does this help now. Utterly bizarre. Pooran started that over with two fours.

OUT! Evin Lewis hits his sixth six and it out soon after. A 35-ball 56, Maharaj provides the breakthrough for SA. Meanwhile... Simmons batting on 13 off 30 balls. WI 74/1 after 11 overs.

Half century: While Lendl Simmons struggles at one end, Evin Lewis has raced to a 32-ball fifty. His 5th six of the innings! He has been timing them sweetly. WI: 65/0 (10)

WI 56/0 after 9 overs: Simmons needs to try and go hard here, says Bishop, being kind to the innings he is playing with the depth WI have. Lewis finds the boundary, going big over long on taking on the favourable matchup of Maharaj.

WI 47/0 after 8 overs: 3-run over from Maharaj and then 1-run over from Nortje. This is a bizarre innings from Simmons, on 8 off 21 now. 47/0

The powerplay started well for South Africa (including a maiden over for Markram) but South Africa give him a third over that goes for plenty. WI finish the first six on 43/0 with Lewis on the charge. Simmons struggling. Maharaj in action right away.

WI 43/0 after 6 overs: Nortje finishes the powerplay and there is a dropped catch! Simmons with a reprieve. The ball wobbled late and Klaasen was in no position. A hugely contrasting powerplay for Winides openers. Lendl Simmons5(14)... Evin Lewis 35 (22)

Correction: WI 36/0 after 5 overs:

WI 36/0 after 5 overs: 6-6-4! South Africa get greedy with Markram and WI pay the price. Lewis goes big. Not going to let him get away with another over, power-hitting on full show.

WI 18/0 after 4 overs: A maiden over from Markram in the powerplay! That is a huge bonus for SA. And that is followed by a 12-run over from Rabada. Four and six for Lewis.

Mbangwa earlier on air: “Excuse for me being political, but I cannot shed my skin. I hope, I hope that the discussion at the very least is about how to be united about something that everybody agrees on... also in the hope that there is agreement”

WI 6/0 after 2 overs: It feels a bit surreal to talk about the cricket after the powerful monologues from Sammy and Mbangwa. Rabada starts with a tidy 2-run over.

WI 4/0 after 1 over: Pommie Mbangwa not holding back on air about the developments so far. “Sorry if this is political but I cannot shed my skin,” he mentions. Also goes on to add this is not about QdK pulling out per se, because he doesn’t know if the reason is what is being speculated to be but says that the problem needs to be discussed. Meanwhile, WI survive a massive scare as Simmons is run out first ball almost.

Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis in the middle for the champions which means Chris Gayle would still be at No 3.

Players do indeed take the knee in Dubai and we are all set for the start of the match. Aiden Markram to start

A statement from CSA earlier today (around 215 pm IST):

The Cricket South Africa (CSA) Board on Monday evening unanimously agreed to issue a directive requiring all Proteas players to adopt a consistent and united stance against racism by “taking the knee” prior to the start of their remaining World Cup matches.

Concerns were raised that the different postures taken by team members in support of the BLM initiative created an unintended perception of disparity or lack of support for the initiative.

After considering all relevant issues, including the position of the players, the Board felt that it was imperative for the team to be seen taking a united and consistent stand against racism, especially given SA’s history.

Several other teams at the World Cup have adopted a consistent stance against the issue,  and the Board felt it is time for all SA players to do the same.

“Taking the knee” is the global gesture against racism adopted by sportspeople across sporting codes because they recognise the power sport has to bring people together/

South Africa XI: Temba Bavuma (c), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi

West Indies XI: Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk, Kieron Pollard (c), Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Akeal Hosein, Hayden Walsh, Ravi Rampaul

Team news: It is huge that QdK will be unavailable for such a big match. The official statement is also that he has made himself unavailable due to personal reasons. May not be the last we hear about this. Reeza Hendricks comes in for him. For West Indies, one forced change KP says. Hayden Walsh comes in for Obed McCoy.

TOSS: Temba Bavuma has won the toss and opts to bat first. Significant team news is that he says Quinton de Kock has made himself unavailable for the match due to personal reasons.

Captains are out in the middle. Huge match in Group 1 for two teams who lost their first matches. For SouthAfrica, it was a hard-fought defeat against Australia, For WestIndies, an utterly forgettable outing against England. Who will bounce back today?

02.55 pm: Hello and welcome to the Live coverage of the Group 1 encounter between South Africa and West Indies. Both teams will look to get their campaign back of track in what is virtually a do-or-die game, especially for the defending champions who suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of England in their opening match. The Proteas just narrowly lost out to Australia in their opening match. It promises to be an exciting encounter. And one that neither side can afford to lose. Stick around for Live updates.