In the end it was not enough to save the day, as the home side won by 8 wickets with more than 12 overs to spare, which meant they claimed a bonus point as well. Having played two of their four qualifying matches, it is now almost impossible for the South Africans to qualify for the final.
With half of the squad going down ill overnight, South Africa was forced to play an ill-balanced starting XI that had only four frontline bowlers, with the likes of Dean Elgar and Khaya Zondo to make up the rest of the overs. Reeza Hendricks, Zondo and Mthokozisi Shezi were all on the sick list but had to play because there was nobody else available, but all three had to be hospitalised during the course of the match. The same applied to De Kock, who was hospitalised after the match.
The loss of Shezi, one of the frontline bowlers, after sending down only four overs, was a severe blow, as Elgar had to then fulfil the role of fourth bowler and, when the game ended, only two overs out of the fifth bowler’s ration had been sent down so how they would have got through a full 50 overs is a matter of conjecture.
