South Africa brush aside Afghanistan to qualify for T20 World Cup 2024 final
Rashid Khan's side were dismissed for only 56 while batting first
South Africa eased past Afghanistan by nine wickets in the first semi-final on Thursday at the Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad, during the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.
This is the first time South Africa, who are unbeaten in the tournament, have qualified for the final of a World Cup (T20 and ODI).
The only other time the South Africa's men's team reached a final of an ICC event was way back in 1998, when the Proteas clinched the inaugural ICC Knockout Trophy (now called the Champions Trophy) at Dhaka.
Chasing a modest target of 57 runs, South Africa reached home in 8.5 overs for the loss of one wicket.
Quinton de Kock (5 off 8) was dismissed early by Fazalhaq Farooqi but captain Aiden Markram (23 off 21) and opener Reeza Hendricks (29 off 25) ensured that South Africa got over the line comfortably.
Earlier, Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat against South Africa.
Batting first, Afghanistan were bowled out for only 56 runs in 11.5 overs after a superb bowling display by the Proteas.
Marco Jansen and Tabrazi Shamsi claimed three wickets each, meanwhile Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje claimed two scalps apiece.
In a sorry batting display, only Azmatullah Omarzai got into double figures with 10 runs.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad were all dismissed for a duck.
56 all-out is the lowest total by a team in a T20 World Cup semi-final match. This is also Afghanistan's lowest total in T20Is.
This is also the lowest total-ever in a knockout match in men's T20Is. Previous lowest was Botswana's 62 all-out vs Uganda in 2023 ACA Cup semis.
Lowest totals by a full-member team in T20 World Cups
55 - ENG vs WI, Dubai, 2021
56 - AFG vs SA, Tarouba, 2024*
60 - NZ vs SL, Chattogram, 2014
70 - BAN vs NZ, Kolkata, 2016
"Think the guys played really well and executed well. For us, it was just sticking to the plan and bowling our best ball. The assessment was the wicket was giving us a few to work with and we just wanted to keep it simple. We will enjoy [the win] and be on it again tomorrow," Marco Jansen said after bagging the Player of the Match award.
Both teams made no changes to their lineup for this match.
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Nangeyalia Kharote, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
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