Representational.
Australia: In the Men's T20I World Cup 2022, three matches took the pitch on Sunday, deciding some of the competing teams' fate towards the semifinals.
The first match between the Netherlands and South Africa, held at Adelaide, found the former making a thumping victory for 13 runs in their last Super 12 Group 2 match. The defeat has sent South Africa packing, while it has confirmed India's semifinal berth.
The Dutch pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup and sent the Proteas tumbling out of semifinal contention, IANS reported.
Here, the South Africa loss had opened the gates for Pakistan and Bangladesh for a chance for the semis. Also, the second match of the day was between the said two, which became a knockout match after SA's defeat. The Pak-Bangla match turned towards Pakistan's favour, presenting them with a 5-wicket victory against Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval, and Babar Azam's men confirmed a semi-berth. And obviously, Bangladesh bowed out of the tournament.
In the third match of the day, India made a dominating win against Zimbabwe with a 71-run win. The victory has made India finish first in Group 2, and its next match is the semis against England.
Earlier on the day, the Netherlands had posed a modest total of 158/4 and restricted the SA to 145/8. Netherlands' Bas de Leede (2/27) exhibited excellent bowling and restricted SA from scoring 26 from the final over.
In the second match, Shaheen Afridi took four wickets, conceding 22 runs only. He was at the sharp end of criticism and trolling after being unable to take out a good performance, particularly against India.
Pakistan had restricted Bangladesh to 127/8 and met the target with 11 balls remaining. Thus, Pakistan made it to the semis.
Against Zimbabwe, Suryakumar Yadav played the "Thandava" performance of 61 not out off 25 to power India to a grant total of 186/5, and Indian bowlers bowled Zimbabwe out at 115 in 17.2 overs to register a dominating 71-run win.