On Wednesday, South Africa crushed Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup dreams in dominant fashion, winning by nine wickets with more than 11 overs to spare to reach the final of the cricket tournament for the first time.
Left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (3 for 6) and pacer Marco Jansen (3 for 16) led the charge, dismantling Afghanistan’s batting lineup for just 56 runs in 11.5 overs after they chose to bat.
Fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje continued the pressure, taking two wickets each at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.
On a pitch that favored the bowlers, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock early to Fazalhaq Farooqi, who took his tournament-leading 17th wicket. However, Reeza Hendricks (29 not out) and captain Aiden Markram (23 not out) guided South Africa to victory, reaching 60 for one in 8.5 overs. The Proteas will now face the winner of Thursday’s semi-final between defending champions England and unbeaten India in Barbados on Saturday.
Man of the Match Jansen commented on South Africa’s bowling performance: “We assessed pretty early that the wicket was giving us something to work with, so it was just about sticking to our plans, keeping it simple, and getting the results.”
Azmatullah Omarzai was the only Afghan batsman to reach double figures with 10 runs, while the highest contribution to their total came from 13 extras. This was a disappointing end for Afghanistan, who had reached their first semi-final of a senior men’s world tournament by narrowly defeating Bangladesh in a thrilling match in St. Vincent on Monday.
Afghanistan had relied heavily on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran throughout the tournament. However, when Jansen dismissed Gurbaz in the first over, the team’s weaknesses were exposed, and South Africa took full advantage.
“It was a tough night for us as a team, but that’s how it goes in T20s,” said Afghan captain Rashid Khan. “You need to be mentally ready for any kind of situation. They bowled exceptionally and we just couldn’t bat well.”
Markram, who led South Africa to the Under-19 men’s title in 2014, acknowledged their good fortune: “I was fortunate to have lost the toss, I guess, because we also would have batted. But still, the bowlers had to get it in the right areas and they did that. It’s not really the captain who gets you to this stage of a competition. It’s a massive squad effort involving those behind the scenes and off the field.”
This will be South Africa’s first senior men’s final since the 1998 Champions Trophy in Bangladesh, where Hansie Cronje’s team defeated Brian Lara’s West Indies side.
Despite the loss, Rashid Khan reflected on Afghanistan’s campaign with pride: “We came here before the tournament and if you told us we would be playing the semi-final against South Africa, we would accept that. We are capable of beating any side. Next time when we participate in a tournament like this, we will have the belief. It’s about how you manage yourself in those pressure situations against tough teams. There is a lot of hard work to be done, especially in the middle order. We have achieved some good results, but when we come back in the tournament, we need to do better, especially in the batting department.”
