South Africa vs Afghanistan: South Africa advanced to the T20 World Cup final for the first time, defeating Afghanistan by nine wickets in the first semi-final staged yesterday at Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago.
Clinical Bowling Performance Sets Up Easy Chase
Afghanistan’s batting problems began from the start. Marco Jansen tore through the top order, knocking Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in the opening over and Gulbadin Naib cheaply in the third. Kagiso Rabada then joined the party in the fourth over, dismissing Ibrahim Zadran and Mohammad Nabi for single-digit scores. The procession continued as Jansen took his third wicket and Anrich Nortje added another.
The Afghan middle order offered little resistance, with Tabraiz Shamsi cleaning up the tail. The South African bowlers bundled out Afghanistan for a paltry 56 runs, the lowest score ever recorded in a T20 World Cup semi-final and Afghanistan’s lowest T20I total ever.
Openers Cruise to Victory
Chasing a modest target of 57, South Africa’s openers, Aiden Markram (23*) and Reeza Hendricks (29*), remained unbeaten to secure the victory in just 8.5 overs. They batted with great composure, ensuring South Africa reached the final without any hiccups.
South Africa’s Dream Run Continues
This win extends South Africa’s unbeaten run in the tournament. They have been the most consistent team throughout, and their clinical performance today confirms their place in the grand finale. Their opponents in the final will be determined by the outcome of the second semi-final between India and England.
South Africa vs Afghanistan: Full Scorecard
Afghanistan (20 ovs maximum)
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz † | c Hendricks b Jansen | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Ibrahim Zadran | b Rabada | 2 | 5 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 | ||
| Gulbadin Naib | b Jansen | 9 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 112.50 | ||
| Azmatullah Omarzai | c Stubbs b Nortje | 10 | 12 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 83.33 | ||
| Mohammad Nabi | b Rabada | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Nangeyalia Kharote | c †de Kock b Jansen | 2 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 | ||
| Karim Janat | lbw b Shamsi | 8 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 61.53 | ||
| Rashid Khan (c) | b Nortje | 8 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 100.00 | ||
| Noor Ahmad | lbw b Shamsi | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Naveen-ul-Haq | lbw b Shamsi | 2 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 | ||
| Fazalhaq Farooqi | not out | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | ||
| Extras | (b 6, lb 1, w 6) | 13 | |||||||
| TOTAL | 11.5 Ov (RR: 4.73) | 56 | |||||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 0.6 ov), 2-16 (Gulbadin Naib, 2.3 ov), 3-20 (Ibrahim Zadran, 3.1 ov), 4-20 (Mohammad Nabi, 3.4 ov), 5-23 (Nangeyalia Kharote, 4.6 ov), 6-28 (Azmatullah Omarzai, 6.3 ov), 7-50 (Karim Janat, 9.3 ov), 8-50 (Noor Ahmad, 9.5 ov), 9-50 (Rashid Khan, 10.2 ov), 10-56 (Naveen-ul-Haq, 11.5 ov) • DRS | |||||||||
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marco Jansen | 3 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 5.33 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Keshav Maharaj | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6.00 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kagiso Rabada | 3 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 4.66 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Anrich Nortje | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 2.33 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Tabraiz Shamsi | 1.5 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3.27 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
South Africa (T: 57 runs from 20 ovs)
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quinton de Kock † | b Fazalhaq Farooqi | 5 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 62.50 | ||
| Reeza Hendricks | not out | 29 | 25 | 44 | 3 | 1 | 116.00 | ||
| Aiden Markram (c) | not out | 23 | 21 | 35 | 4 | 0 | 109.52 | ||
| Extras | (nb 1, w 2) | 3 | |||||||
| TOTAL | 8.5 Ov (RR: 6.79) | 60/1 | |||||||
| Did not bat: Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi | |||||||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Quinton de Kock, 1.5 ov) • DRS | |||||||||
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naveen-ul-Haq | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 5.00 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Fazalhaq Farooqi | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 5.50 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Rashid Khan | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | 1.5 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9.81 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Gulbadin Naib | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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