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NEW DELHI: Sikandar Raza’s sublime ball striking was the lone bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming batting effort as South Africa national cricket team restricted Zimbabwe national cricket team to 153 for seven in their final Super 8 match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup on Sunday.

Zimbabwe skipper Raza smashed 73 off 43 balls while the rest of the batting unit struggled to match his fluency against a disciplined and high-quality pace attack.

South Africa bench steps up

Apart from Raza, Zimbabwe’s batters attempted to take on Kwena Maphaka, Anrich Nortje and the in form Lungi Ngidi but failed to execute their strokes consistently.

Maphaka and Nortje are not even regulars in South Africa’s first choice eleven, with Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj rested for the inconsequential fixture ahead of their semifinal against New Zealand national cricket team in Kolkata.

Having impressed by reaching the Super 8 stage, Zimbabwe have found it difficult to replicate their league stage success against stronger opposition.

Need for more firepower

Raza is aware of what Zimbabwe must improve to regularly compete with the top sides, but the team is still a work in progress. Power hitting remains a key element in the shortest format and Zimbabwe require more batters capable of putting quality attacks under sustained pressure.

On Sunday, openers Tadiwanashe Marumani (7) and Brian Bennett (15) started positively against left arm spinner George Linde but were unable to accelerate against the quicker bowlers.

Left handed Marumani had his leg stump disturbed while attempting to launch left arm pacer Maphaka for a big hit.

Bennett, who has been steady at the top, tried to loft Nortje over mid off but failed to clear the fielder.

Lone battle from the captain

Raza, however, responded with authority after being hurried by Nortje off his very first delivery.

He pulled Corbin Bosch for a six over deep backward square leg and added a couple of boundaries in the sixth over to guide Zimbabwe to 45 for two at the end of the powerplay.

The captain continued to find the ropes at will, even as wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

He underlined his class by backing away to Nortje for a drive past mid off and then launching a flat six over deep mid wicket in the eighth over.

Raza brought up a well deserved half century off just 29 balls, but with little support from the rest of the lineup, Zimbabwe were left with a below par total.

(With PTI Inputs)