2026 ICC T20 World Cup: South Africa complete perfect group stage with victory over UAE

by Devesh Jaganath

image 2026 ICC T20 World Cup: South Africa complete perfect group stage with victory over UAE
South Africa surged into the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup Super 8s with a perfect record in the group stage after securing a commanding six-wicket victory over the United Arab Emirates at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.

Proteas clinch top spot in Group D at T20 World Cup 

South Africa maintained their perfect record at the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup in midweek when they confirmed our cricket predictions by cruising past the United Arab Emirates to a six-wicket victory with 40 balls to spare in New Delhi. 

After winning the toss at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Aiden Markram opted to bowl first, and the Proteas’ skipper would have been extremely pleased with his side’s performance with the ball as they restricted their opponents to just 122/6 in their 20 overs. 

Corbin Bosch was the pick of the bowlers, notching up four wickets for just 12 runs in his four-over allotment, while Anrich Nortje, who was making his first appearance of the tournament, bagged 2/12, and George Linde finished with a miserly 1/17. 

During their chase, the South African’s were dealt a couple of early blows with Markram and Quinton de Kock both dismissed inside the powerplay, but Ryan Rickleton (30 runs off 16 balls) and Dewald Brevis (36 off 25) got the team back on track before Tristan Stubbs and Jason Smith saw them over the line. 

For the Proteas, the victory was the ideal way to cap off an excellent group stage in which they maintained a solid net run rate of +1.943, while for the UAE, it was a tough defeat but an important learning curve against one of the in-form teams at this year’s competition. 

South Africa to face India in blockbuster Super 8 contest

With that victory, South Africa clinched top spot in Group D with eight points from their four matches and have been drawn into Group 1 for the Super 8s, alongside defending champions India, the West Indies, and surprise package Zimbabwe. 

The Proteas' first match in the Super 8 will be against the tournament favourites India, who they faced in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup. They lost that match by a heartbreaking seven runs on the final ball and will no doubt be out for revenge this time. 

However, Aiden Markram’s side have not fared well against the Men in Blue in the shortest format of the game. In 35 matches, India have won 21 and beat the Proteas 3-1 in a five-match series last month before getting the better of them again by 30 runs in a World Cup qualifier on February 4.