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India’s 2022 World Cup campaign came to an end with a defeat to South Africa that brought the group stage of the tournament to a thrilling close. It was the final match of the group stage and with England beating Bangladesh by 100 runs earlier in the day, India had no option but to beat South Africa to push the fourth-placed West Indies down the fifth and thus reach the semi-finals.

The match came down the last ball with momentum shifting both ways throughout the South African chase. It looked like India had delivered a body blow by dismissing former South Africa captain Mignon du Preez off the second last ball of the over. However, it turned out that bowler Deepti Sharma had overstepped by a whisker. It left South Africa needing two off the last two balls, which they knocked off to win the game.

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The West Indies players can be seen holding their emotions, seemingly before Du Preez took the decisive final run and then erupting in celebrations once the match was decided. The West Indies had started the tournament by beating hosts New Zealand and defending champions England. However, they then crashed to a 155-run defeat to India. This was followed by defeats to Australia and Pakistan but their match against South Africa was washed out, leading them to get to seven points.

The West Indies had started the day on third, leading both India and England by a point. However, their net run rate was -0.885, which was far lesser than those of India (0.768) and England (+0.778). It meant that if India and England won their respective matches on the final day of group matches, they both would have a one-point lead over the West Indies.

 


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