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South Africa captain Aiden Markram led from the front with an unbeaten 82 as South Africa all but secured a T20 World Cup semi-final berth with a brutal nine-wicket thrashing of the West Indies in Ahmedabad Thursday.After the West Indies fought back from deep trouble at 83-7 to post 176-8, Markram and Quinton de Kock put on 95 for the first wicket to set the platform for a thumping victory.South Africa raced to their target with 23 balls to spare, scoring 177-1. Ryan Rickleton was not out on 45 at the end."The wicket got really good again for batting, it was slightly tacky earlier when we bowled," said Markram."Steep bounce came from the tackiness. Fortunately we ended up on the right side of the toss. The guys bowled really well up front to take wickets."South Africa are the only unbeaten side, having also dismantled the pre-tournament favourites India by 76 runs in the Super Eights.An India win against Zimbabwe in Chennai later Thursday will guarantee South Africa's progress to the last four.It will also make India's clash against the West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday a winner-takes-all decider for the final semi-final berth.Markram reached fifty off 27 balls and hit four sixes and seven fours.De Kock scored 47 off 24 balls, with four sixes and Rickleton hit two sixes in his 28-ball knock in an utterly dominant display of batsmanship.The West Indies earlier needed a record eighth-wicket partnership by Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder to set a target of 177 after an early collapse.The pair came together with their team in deep trouble at 83-7 and put on 89, the highest eighth-wicket stand in the history of T20 internationals.Shepherd was unbeaten on 52 off 37 balls with four sixes. Holder was run out off the penultimate ball of the innings for 49 off 31 balls with three maximums."Very important to get a big score, and losing so many wickets in the powerplay cost us," said West Indies captain Shai Hope."We were 40-50 runs short. Must commend the guys in the bottom half for giving us a chance."Both teams came into the match with a perfect five wins in the T20 World Cup so far.South Africa have played four of their five matches in Ahmedabad and captain Aiden Markram had no hesitation in opting to bowl when he won the toss.The West Indies took 17 off the first over, bowled by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj.Kagiso Rabada's introduction halted their charge as Hope (16) edged his second ball to keeper Quinton de Kock.Shimron Hetmyer was dropped at mid-on by Corbin Bosch off the next delivery, but lasted only two more when he miscued to midwicket where Maharaj snapped up the catch.Lungi Ngidi got in the act in his first over when Brandon King on 21 edged to De Kock and two balls later Roston Chase chopped on.From 29-0 after two overs, the West Indies had slumped to 43-4 after four.Ngidi took 3-30 from his four overs, Rabada 2-2 and Bosch 2-31. BRIEF SCORES: South Africa 177 for 1 (Markram 82*, de Kock 47, Rickelton 45*) beat West Indies 176 for 8 (Shepherd 52, Holder 49, Ngidi 3-20, Rabada 2-22, Bosch 2-31) by nine wickets 

Quinton de Kock hit a brilliant century and Nandre Burger grabbed four wickets as South Africa thumped Pakistan by eight wickets in their second one-day international Thursday.Playing his second ODI after reversing his 2023 decision to retire from the format, the dashing De Kock smashed an unbeaten 123 to anchor a 270-run chase with 9.5 overs in spare at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. South African victory levelled the three-match series at 1-1 after Pakistan won the first match by two wickets. The third and final match is on Saturday, all in Faisalabad.De Kock put on a solid 81 for the opening wicket with Lhuan-dre Pretorius (46), before compiling a 153-run stand for the second wicket with Tony de Zorzi, who scored an attractive 63-ball 76.The left-handed trio took the attack to Pakistan’s pace quartet, with De Kock knocking eight fours and seven sixes while Pretorius had seven boundaries and one maximum.De Kock reached his 22nd ODI hundred with a couple off a luckless Mohammad Wasim, who saw Mohammad Nawaz drop the wicketkeeper-batter on 15. De Zorzi sped up the scoring rate with three sixes and nine boundaries before he was caught off Faheem Ashraf with 36 needed. Skipper Matthew Breetzke took the winning single, making 17 not out.“I set myself high goals so I am happy to bat well today,” said De Kock. “I think Nandre set us well with early wickets and then we batted well to chase that down.”Earlier, South African fast bowler Burger registered his best ODI figures of 4-46 to keep the home team down to 269-9.The 30-year-old ripped out Pakistan’s first three wickets in his opening three overs after the hosts won the toss and batted.From 22-3, however, the hosts rebuilt the innings and half-centuries from opener Saim Ayub and Salman Agha, who added 92 for the fourth wicket, and later from Nawaz helped them to a fighting total. Burger struck with his third delivery, having opener Fakhar Zaman caught behind by De Kock for a duck.He then struck twice in his third over: crowd favourite Babar Azam was caught in the slips for 11 from the first ball and four balls later Mohammad Rizwan chopped on to his stumps for four. Ayub hit 53 off 66 balls with a six and five fours, while Agha made a more docile 69 from 106 deliveries with five boundaries as the pair revived the innings. Ayub hit his second ODI fifty before giving Corbin Bosch a return catch in the 25th over, while Agha was bowled by Bosch in the 41st.Down the order, Nawaz blasted a run-a-ball 59 with four sixes and three fours while all-rounder Faheem made 28 as Pakistan plundered 90 runs in the final 10 overs.“I think we put up a good total but did not bowl and field well,” said Shaheen. “We will come back strongly.”BRIEF SCORES: South Africa 270 for 2 (de Kock 123*, de Zorzi 76, Ashreef 1-40) beat Pakistan 269 for 9 (Agha 69, Nawaz 59, Burger 4-46) by eight wickets.