Short Score: South Africa (123/4 in 13.2 overs) beat UAE (122/6 in 20 overs) by 6 wickets in New Delhi in a Group D match.
SA vs UAE T20 WORLD CUP 2026: MAIN | SCORECARD
South Africa made it four out of four at the T20 World Cup 2026 and set themselves up for their Super 8 clash against India with a comfortable 6-wicket win over the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday (February 18) in New Delhi. Dewald Brevis played with the bat and scored 36 off 25 balls while Corbin Bosch destroyed the UAE lot for 3 batting which did not have over 2 figures in the 1 with numbers. bet on it.
The weather at the Arun Jaitley Stadium was a bit gloomy with a bit of rain in the air. The Proteas won the toss and elected to field first, making four changes to their line-up ahead of the contest. But that had no effect on the dominance the Proteas displayed with ball and bat. UAE pushed Afghanistan all the way at the same ground and actually got off to a fantastic start.
Muhammad Waseem and Aryansh Sharma got things going with some wonderful shots as they scored thirty runs in the first three overs. UAE batting often revolved around three batting ins form Waseem, Alishan Sharafu and Sohaib Khan.
So when their captain fell, the Asian side began to slowly lose their breath. Aryansh also fell quickly as the powerplay ended with 44 runs on the board for the loss of two wickets. Bosch got off the mark with the wicket of Aryansh and soon came back to dismiss Sohaib as well. Sharafu was pretty much left as a lone warrior at this point trying to go hard whenever possible.
SOUTH AFRICA ON THE FIELD WRONG
While South Africa have been clinical with bat and ball so far, there is still some work to be done in terms of fielding. In Delhi, the Proteas had four wasted chances, Sharafu was lucky twice.
Sharafu used this look to his advantage and slowly built his innings. But the problem wasn’t any of the other batsmen coming to the fore and getting that one big partnership that could put the Proteas under some pressure.
Once Sharafu was dismissed for 45 runs, UAE’s innings lacked any momentum and they just took a breath and puffed to 122. Had those chances on the field been taken, UAE could have been at least 30 runs short and that was something that Markram criticized.
“We let ourselves down massively in the field today. Not up to par at all. You don’t want to create anything mentally but not be switched on. We definitely let ourselves down with our attitude. It’s a nice lesson for us to learn there,” Markram said.
The Proteas wanted to get the job done quickly but were forced to wait in the dressing room as rain came to give the players an extended break.
PROTEAS AIRCRAFT FORCE TOO LARGE FOR SAE
During the match against New Zealand, it was Aiden Markram who settled the chase with his aggressive batting in the power bowl. That seems to be the template he will be using going forward. Dhruv Parashar started the first over with a lot of control, only one run came out of it.
But after that the Proteas just coasted away with their skipper leading from the front. Markram got a couple of boundaries off Junaid Siddique and then hit Haider Ali for three fours and a maximum. But that spelled the end of Markram as he was cleared. But the damage was already done.
Like India, South Africa made a conscious effort to ensure that the scoring rate did not dip at any point and Rickleton came up with a couple of boundaries. De Kock’s batting was uncharacteristically slow as he was dismissed for 14 off 16 balls.
The power play produced 56 runs for the loss of two wickets and the onus was on Rickleton and Brevis to deliver. The duo added 49 runs from 30 balls to ensure there were no more nerves or chances for the UAE side to make a comeback.
Stubbs and Jason Smith ensured victory was sealed in 13.2 overs as they head to Ahmedabad to face the defending champions.
Probably another area South Africa would like to see is one of their batsmen get a big score. Markram’s score of 86 is now the highest score for them, with Rickleton next best on 59. Looking into the Super 8 and the match against India on Sunday, they will need to make sure they can have one big strike. At the moment, the main candidate is the captain. But he could use some support.
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Published on:
February 18, 2026