South Africa beat MCA XI in World T20 warm-up tie

Mumbai, March 15 (Cricketnmore): Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers struck fluent half-centuries as South Africa outclassed Mumbai Cricket Association XI (MCA XI) by eight wickets in their final World Twenty20 warm-up match at the Brabourne Stadium here on Tuesday.

Batting first, MCA XI posted 188/4 in 20 overs, thanks to Akhil Herwadkar's 45-ball 61.

In reply, skipper Du Plessis (65 retired not out) and De Villiers (52 not out) helped South Africa chase down the total comfortably to score 190/2 in 17 overs.

Chasing a target of 189, Hashim Amla (38) and Quinton de Kock (19) gave the Proteas a flying start.

But with the dismissal of both the batsmen, incoming duo of Du Plessis and De Villiers came in and smashed the ball to all parts to close in on the target.

Du Plessis struck seven fours and two sixes while De Villiers hit four fours and three sixes to take the game away from the opposition.

But after skipper Du Plessis retired deliberately David Miller (3 not out) remained unbeaten along with De Villiers to take team to victory.

Earlier, put into bat, MCA XI started well with Herwadkar and Shashank Singh (29). But with the dismissal of both the batsmen South Africa's Jean-Paul Duminy (22) who played for MCA XI took the initiative from there on to help team cross the 100-run mark.

Later on in the innings, Proteas' David Wiese (34)and Mumbai's Armaan Jaffer (24 not out) took the team to a respectable score.

Brief scores: Mumbai Cricket Association XI 188/4 in 20 overs (Akhil Herwadkar 61; Kyle Abbott 1/52, Kagiso Rabada 1/54) vs South Africa 190/2 in 17 overs (Faf du Plessis 65 retired not out, AB de Villiers 52 not out; Shardul Thakur 1/19, Vishal Dabholkar 1/25).

Agency.

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