Arguably the most important match of Group 2 in the Super Eight at the 2024 T20 World Cup will see the West Indies taking on South Africa at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Monday afternoon.
South Africa currently lead the group with four points and are in the driver’s seat to reach the last four, while the West Indies are second but do possess the best net run rate of any side in the group.
The West Indies were one of only three teams along with South Africa and Australia to play and win all four matches in the first phase, but they saw their spotless record blemished in the first match of the Super Eight by England.
Batting first, the Windies posted a defendable 180/4, but as we have seen for much of the tournament, the pitch provided the bowlers with very little assistance and the English batsmen, led by Phil Salt, took advantage and chased down the target with 2.3 overs to spare.
Nevertheless, the tournament co-hosts bounced back well on Saturday as they surged to a commanding nine-wicket victory over their Northern Hemisphere counterparts, chasing down 128 in just 10.5 overs.
As a result, that has given the Windies a very strong net run rate of +1.814, which could play a crucial part in the qualification equation with England still in the hunt heading into their final Super Eight match against the US.
Wins for the West Indies and England will mean the top two spots will be decided on net run rate, while a loss for the Windies here will see them knocked out if England beat the US on Sunday.
