AHMEDABAD, India — South Africa captain Aiden Markram led from the front with an unbeaten 82 as South Africa all but secured a Twenty20 World Cup semi-final berth with a brutal nine-wicket thrashing of the West Indies in Ahmedabad on 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.

A comfortable India win against Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday guaranteed South Africa’s progress to the last four.

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.”