T20 World Cup 2026, Match 34: Clinical South Africa swat aside UAE to maintain perfect record

Match Overview

South Africa and United Arab Emirates faced off in Match 34 of the T20 World Cup 2026 at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium. Winning the toss, South Africa skipper Aiden Markram opted to bowl.

UAE made a decent start with the bat, as their opener Muhammad Waseem (22 off 12) kept finding gaps even as Aryansh Sharma struggled to get going at the other end. The duo added 38 for the first wicket before George Linde pinned Waseem lbw for 22 off 12, while Aryansh followed suit, perishing in the next over as Corbin Bosch had him caught at mid on.

Alishan Sharafu kept the scoreboard ticking; however, he did not receive any support from the other end, as the UAE's middle order laboured in the middle. Sohaib Khan (6 off 11), Syed Haider Shah (6 off 15), and Muhammad Arfan (11 off 18) managed 23 runs in 44 balls combined in their boundary-less knocks to suck out any momentum Sharafu created with his 38-ball 45, including five fours and a six.

Bosch was the pick of the bowlers, scalping three wickets in a frugal spell, while Anrich Nortje got two wickets, including the prized one of Sharafu, returning figures of 2 for 28. South Africa were uncharacteristically poor in the field, dropping as many as four catches, including two reprieves to Sharafu.

Chasing a below-par target of 123 after a brief rain interruption, South Africa made a rollicking start as Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock sent Junaid Siddique for three fours in the second over. Markram continued his assault in the next over against Haider Ali, slamming three fours and six before being cleaned up on the last ball. He scored 28 off merely 11 balls, including five fours and a six, to give his team a quickfire start.

De Kock (14 off 16) found the fence thrice but could not maintain the tempo and holed out in the deep off Muhammad Jawadullah inside the powerplay. Then Ryan Rickleton (30 off 16) and Dewald Brevis (36 off 25) dominated the proceedings, adding 49 runs off 30 balls for the third wicket, which was the highlight of the innings, taking South Africa to the brink of their fourth consecutive victory.

However, both fell in quick succession as Rickleton found Dhruv Parashar in the deep off Muhammad Farooq, while Brevis found mid-off in Muhammad Arfan's subsequent over before Tristan Stubbs and Jason Smith finished the formalities to take the Proteas to a six-wicket win with a whopping 6.4 overs to spare. 

Top run-scorer of the match

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player of the match

Corbin Bosch

Bosch was easily the most impressive bowler on the day, returning with impressive figures of 3 for 12 to bag the Player of the Match award. His wickets included Aryansh Sharma, Sohaib Khan and Muhammad Arfan.

What the captains said 

Winning Team Captain, Aiden Markram (South Africa)

"Yeah, that's what it was about. It was great to see the boys that came in and that have been working hard for an opportunity to grab that opportunity with both hands. I thought the bowling unit once again was really good in executing plans on that wicket.

And, you know, it was confidence for us as a group to know that each guy in the 15 is in a good space. It is slightly different. Today obviously with the rain and interesting weather around, it's played a bit different. It was a little bit tacky up front, but I suppose it was a morning game. Different time of the day, probably a little bit less bounce, but yeah, it's good to get a run out in conditions like this, knowing that we're coming back here and I'm sure the boys will sort of realise what worked, things to stay away from and keep that in the back of my mind for when we come back. 

We let ourselves down in the field today, but not up to the mark at all. So got to create a little, which is needed. You don't want to create anything mentally by not being switched on and I thought in the field we probably, not probably, we definitely let ourselves down from an attitude and approach point of view. So that's a lesson for us to learn there and I've got no doubt the boys will be up to really get in at the net. I think fortunately we've got a little bit of time before that first Super 8 game, which is obviously a great thing for the boys to be able to switch off for a little bit and then regroup. Going back to under bed as well, we spent a bit of time there now in this comp, so it won't feel too foreign to us. It's about really just zoning in on the things that we found worked there and our strengths as a unit and back in that to the hilt and looking forward to that first game."

Losing Team Captain, Muhammad Waseem (UAE)

"Yeah, it's a tough outing for us as a batting team. I think we need to bat well, especially from the 6th to 16th over, that middle part of the inning, we have to bat well. Yeah, to be honest, right now we are in the learning process. So we are learning so many things from these tournaments and from the seniors players. So I think we need a little bit step up in the batting team in the middle overs and as a bowling team in the last overs.

"Yeah, to be honest, boys played excellent cricket all over through the tournament. I'm very happy with the performance of Shoaib, Aryan Sharma, Alishan and I think in the upcoming tournament, one or two guys more will rise their hand for the performance. (on the crowd support) Yeah, thank you so much for the crowd. They are supporting us and I can say only they are, I think they are upset from the result, but thank you so much for the support."