South Africa suffered a 55-run defeat to the West Indies in their final group-stage match of the U19 World Cup on Thursday.

JJ Basson produced an outstanding spell of 5-23 in his 10 overs, including three wickets in the 23rd over, as the West Indies were bowled out for 234 after choosing to bat first.

The seamer set the tone early with a breakthrough in the powerplay and maintained the pressure through the middle overs, breaking key partnerships to keep South Africa firmly in the contest. His effort was matched only by West Indies bowler Shaquan Belle, who finished with six wickets for 40 runs.

In reply, South Africa struggled to build meaningful partnerships while chasing 235. Jason Rowles top-scored with a fighting 46, but support was limited. Lethabo Phahlamohlaka (26), Jorich van Schalkwyk (20), Daniel Bosman (19) and Armaan Manack (17) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures as South Africa were bowled out for 179.

Despite the defeat, Basson took heart from the performance.

“We did really well in the fielding innings to restrict them to 234. It’s always a chaseable score,” Basson said. “Unfortunately, this is cricket. Some days you’re the windshield, other days you’re the bug.

“There are a lot of positives we can take from today and look to improve on in the next couple of days. We won’t dwell too much on it. It’s never nice losing, but we still have two games to go, so our focus immediately shifts to the next one.

“The World Cup has been an amazing experience, and I want to take the confidence from this performance into the remaining matches to give the team the best possible chance.”

South Africa have already qualified for the Super Six stage and will await Friday’s result between Australia and Sri Lanka to determine their next opponents.

Photo: @ProteasMenCSA/X