T20 World Cup 2021, Match 18: South Africa vs West Indies, Stats Preview: Player records and approaching milestones

It will be South Africa vs West Indies in match 18 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. The action takes place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday (October 26). Both teams lost their opening fixtures and would be raring to open their account this time around. While South Africa lost to Australia by five wickets in a low-scoring thriller, West Indies suffered a humiliating six-wicket defeat against England.

South Africa would be pretty pleased with their bowling performance in the last clash as Australia required 19.4 overs to chase down 119. The likes of Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi were exceptional with the ball. However, their batters need to put up a better effort. Except for Aiden Markram, none of the Proteas batters could make a significant impact against the Aussies.

Speaking of the defending champions, a destructive-looking West Indies line-up got skittled out for 55 against England in their last fixture. It’s indeed an eye-opener for them that only brute hitting won’t take them to glory this time around. The Caribbean bowlers will also have a significant role to play.

Meanwhile, let’s look at important stats and numbers ahead of the 18th game of the T20 World Cup 2021:

Head to head: South Africa dominate West Indies as far as the head-to-head record in T20Is is concerned. In 15 clashes, the Proteas side has won 9 games while the remaining six encounters went in West Indies’ favour. These two sides have met thrice T20 World Cup and the head-to-head record is 2-1 in South Africa’s favour

46 – Rassie van der Dussen needs 46 runs to complete 4000 T20 runs.

51 – Heinrich Klaasen needs 51 runs to complete 500 runs in T20I cricket.

67 – Chris Gayle needs 67 runs to become the second batter to complete 1000 runs in T20 World Cups.

450– Chris Gayle is also set to become the third player to feature in 450 T20 matches.

34 – Aiden Markram needs 34 runs to complete 500 runs in T20I cricket.

83 – Rassie van der Dussen needs 83 runs to complete 2500 runs in international cricket.

3 – Tabraiz Shamsi (29) needs three wickets to become bowler with most T20I wickets in a calendar year. Australia’s Andrew Tye, who took 31 wickets in 2018, tops the list.

8 – Kagiso Rabada has returned unbeaten in his last eight T20I innings.

50 – Andre Fletcher needs 50 runs to complete 1,000 runs in T20Is.

4 – Oshane Thomas is four scalps away from completing 50 wickets in international cricket.

7 – Kieron Pollard needs seven big hits to complete 100 sixes in T20I cricket. He’ll be the third West Indies player to get the feat after Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis.

70 – West Indies suffered their biggest defeat in terms of balls remaining (70) in their last match against England.