The USA are almost there - yes, almost

It may have been just 18 runs, but did the end of the match on Wednesday sound the death knell of the hopes of all players that the USA have assimilated into their culture over the years?

Andries Gous did his best to keep his team in the hunt, and his knock of 80 runs off just 47 balls will go down as one of the best in his team's short but stellar history of playing T20I cricket, but the Proteas were unflappable.

Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi - both left-armers - turned out to be a tad too expensive for the liking of their skipper Aiden Markram. But it was the combined class of Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj that turned the game in their side's favor.

However, the way that the USA have risen in our esteem seems to mark a difference in the sense that cricket has been perceived of late in and by this generation.

That a bunch of rag-tag players masquerading as professionals in a sport dominated by alpha males of all denominations can look the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the eye is what makes the USA story special.

On Wednesday, South Africa were decidedly the better side on paper, but the way the Americans fought to ensure that they were not marked off as mere pretenders to a semifinal spot warmed the loneliest of hearts in North Sound, Antigua.

All is not lost for the USA

The tight 19th over bowled by Rabada changed the game entirely for the Proteas. But what would have happened had Harmeet middled the low full toss and not found the hands of Tristan Stubbs at deep midwicket?

The nerves were indeed calmed by the champion seamer in just one over, and put paid to the efforts of the Harmeet-Gous duo, who broke into so much sweat trying to pull off an improbable victory.

It mattered a lot to Gous, who must have been extremely keen on putting his best foot forward against the country of his birth and where he plied his trade until 2021. We shall never know if the rejection handed to him by the selectors in South Africa - who seemed to take no note of his showings year after year - was the spur for Gous to put up the stellar performance on Wednesday, but it must have played a part.

The sad part about the American batting lineup was that no one apart from Gous and Harmeet stood up to be counted on this important day, and this put all the pressure upon the former.

South Africa, for their part, will be pleased to get the Super Eight stage of this tournament underway with a bang and hope that they can carry this forward to qualify for the semifinals.

With Quinton de Kock coming good at the top of the order and Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen following through with decent performances of their own; the Proteas appear to have covered most of their bases.

However, few would have expected the Americans to put up such a show against the South Africans and take the latter gently by surprise with the pluck that they showed, especially towards the end of the second innings.

Taken away from their home and asked to play the Super Eight stage in the Caribbean, the USA will face major challenges in their upcoming games against England and the West Indies.

All is not lost for them. Nonetheless, they will need to do well to keep their heads high and push for a spot in the semifinals, which is bound to come if they translate the efforts they are putting in day after day into results soon.