South Africa managed to put up the ‘perfect game’ that the skipper, Aiden Markram has been wanting to see in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 as they pummeled Afghanistan by X wickets to secure a spot in the finals on Thursday at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago.
The Afghan side who strung up some fine performances against the likes of Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh to secure their spot in the semi-finals were unable to handle the pressure as they were bundled out for just 56 runs, the lowest total in T20 World Cup knockout history.
The pace duo of Marco Jansen (3/16) and the experienced Kagiso Rabada (2/14) combined to remove half of the opposition’s batting order within the batting powerplay to blow out Afghanistan right from the get-go. Following the fielding restrictions, the pair of Tabraiz Shamsi (3/6) and Anrich Nortje (2/7) took the remaining wickets to ensure that the chase was a mere formality.
While many might have expected an easy chase, Afghanistan looked to put up a fight with the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, Fazalhaq Farooqi delivering the wicket of Quinton de Kock early in the powerplay. But the skipper Aiden Markram steadied the ship along with Reeza Hendricks to complete the chase in 8.5 overs.
Conditions were not conducive to batting as there was a fair amount of movement on offer, but Afghanistan were nowhere near their best in the semi-final bout thanks to the lethal bowling performance by the Proteas. South Africa was certainly able to overcome their knockout demons and take them one step away from the historic first World Cup title.
South Africa will be watching the second semi-final bout where the Indian team led by Rohit Sharma take on the defending champions England led by Jos Buttler at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
Afghanistan on the other hand have all the reasons to be proud of its campaign as a whole and will look to reflect and improve on today’s performance as they look forward to the next chance to shock the world once again.
Brief Scores
AFG 56/10 in 11.5 Overs – Azmatullah Omarzai 10(12); Tabraiz Shamsi [3/6], Marco Jansen [3/16]
SA 60/1 in 8.5 Overs – Reeza Hendricks 29(25), Aiden Markram 23(21); Fazalhaq Farooqi [1/11]
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