South Africa into the Finals after defeating Afghanistan by 9 wickets with 67 balls remaining. Proteas made it into the finals after 7 previous failures in the Semi-Finals.
Afghanistan bundled up for just 56 Runs in Semi-Final against South Africa suffering a batting collapse against the pacer of South Africa.
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The first semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 AFG vs SA resulted in some serious heartbreak and disappointment for the Afghanistan side who had made it for the first time in the Semi-Finals.
South Africa into the Finals after 6 defeats and 1 tied match in the Semi-Finals of ICC tournaments including the T20 World Cup and CWC.
First Innings
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first which was proven brutal for them. Regular Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opened the inning for Afghanistan while Marco Jansen with the ball.
SA got an early breakthrough as Marco Jansen got a wicket in the last ball of the over dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck.
Gulbadin Naib came at No. 3 but couldn’t add much and set back to the pavilion for just 9 runs in 8 balls and Marco Jansen got his second wicket.
The pitch looked tough for the Afghanistan side as Ibrahim Zadran also returned to the Pavilion for just 2 runs and Kagiso Rabada joined the pacer’s party with the wicket.
The struggle continues as Afghanistan loses Mohammed Nabi for a duck.
Half of the Afghanistan Side was back into the hut as Afghanistan was reduced to 23/5 after the end of 5 overs as they lost Nangeyalia Kharote in the 5th over.
The tremendous World Cup looks near the end for Afghanistan as they kept on losing wickets in short intervals.
Azmatullah Omarzai looked to set the inning in the tough pitch but returned to the pavilion as Tristan Stubbs took the catch and Anrich Nortje took the first wicket.
Afghanistan looks somehow stable as Karim Janat and Rashid Khan look to build a partnership but Karim Janat returned after scoring another single-digit score of 8 runs in 13 deliveries. Tabraiz Shamshi strikes in his first over.
New man Noor Ahmad also couldn’t add much to the scoreboard and returned for a duck.
Skipper Rashid Khan also got beaten by the pace of Anrich Nortje and returned to the pavilion. The last man for the Afghanistan side Fazalhaq Farooqi entered the crease with Naveen-ul-Haq.
The lower order couldn’t do much as the side bundled up for just 56 runs.
The highest run scorer for the Afghanistan side was Azmatullah Omarzai scored just 10 runs in 12 deliveries However Afghanistan side benefitted from the 13 extra runs.
Azmatullah Omarzai was the only double-digit scorer in the Afghanistan side.
Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamshi picked up 3 wickets each for the side, while Marco Jansen and Anrich Nortje picked up 2 wickets each respectively.
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Second Innings
Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks opened the inning to chase the below-par target against the Afghanistan side.
Fazalhaq Farooqi got an early breakthrough and dismissed Quinton de Kock for just 5 runs.
Skipper Aiden Markaram came at No 3 for the SA side. Aiden Markaram and set partnership with Reeza Hendricks.
They played unbeaten innings and chased down the target in just 8.5 overs. The opening batter Reeza Hendricks scored 29 runs in 25 balls including 3 fours and 1 six with a strike rate of 116.
Skipper Aiden Markaram scored 23 runs in 21 balls to lead South Africa into the finals for the first time in any ICC tournament after the previous six losses and 1 tie.
Marco Jansen was the Player of the Match for his spell of 3/16 in 3 overs with an economy of 5.33.
What’s your opinion on today’s pace attack of SA against Afghanistan which helped South Africa make it into the Finals? Can they convert it into their maiden Trophy?