South Africa made history on Thursday by booking their first-ever spot in the final of the T20 World Cup as captain Aiden Markram and his team registered an emphatic nine-wicket win over Afghanistan in their semifinal clash at the Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago.
Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram saw them home on a difficult surface with a 55-run second-wicket partnership. They led their team to 60 for one in 8.5 overs, sauntering home with 11.1 overs to spare after bowling out their surprise semifinal opponents for just 56.
“There are a lot of people waking up with a little bit more grey hair, but this win will be more comforting for them. We've never been there [final] before, but there's a lot of belief. It takes a full squad to put together a really good game of cricket,” Markram shared after the match.
Last week, South Africa’s coach Rob Walter was asked about Reeza Hendricks’ form and he responded by saying the opener’s best runs were ahead, pointing to the semifinal and final. The 34-year-old fulfilled the prophecy with a well-paced unbeaten 29 off 25. Markram, who has also not been in great form, stood tall and braved the treacherous pitch to score an unbeaten 23 from 21 in support of his partner.
THE MOMENT IT HAPPENED 🇿🇦#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/S9D9aSeUWM
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South Africa, who lost the toss and were asked to bowl first, skittled Afghanistan for 56 in 11.5 overs.
Aiden Markram’s side has recorded eight wins in eight matches on their way to the final. The South African captain led the SA Under 19 side to the title in 2014 and has become the first captain to lead the senior men’s side to the final of the T20 World Cup.
Just one W left 🇿🇦#SAvAFG #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/GWMouJJtz4
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 27, 2024
South Africa's semifinal triumph was built on the back of an outstanding demolition job by their bowling attack. The quintet of Marco Jansen, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Keshav Maharaj offered the opposition no breathing room as they tore through the Afghanistan batting order. 56 runs is the lowest total by any team in a T20 World Cup semifinal. It is also the lowest total against South Africa.
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The player of the match, Marco Jansen, set his side on course with an early wicket. The left-armer needed five balls to get his range and got his side a wicket. Afghanistan has depended on the heroics of their openers, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, to put teams under pressure.
Facing Jansen, Gurbaz faced three runless deliveries before he was back in the dugout. The towering pacer delivered a three-over spell that earned his side three wickets for the cost of 16 runs.
“The guys played really well and executed well. For us, it was just sticking to the plan and bowling our best ball,” Jansen shared as he accepted his Player of the Match Award.
According to the pacer, the plan was to keep things simple because the surface was giving them enough to work with without trying to conjure a magic delivery to snare a wicket.
Afghanistan hardly had any time to breathe. When Jansen was not terrorising them, they were facing the wrath of South Africa’s leader of the bowling attack, Kagiso Rabada. The 29-year-old opened his account with a double-wicket maiden, dismissing Zadran and Mohammad Nabi to pin Afghanistan against the ropes.
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER THE PROTEAS ARE THROUGH TO A WC FINAL 🇿🇦❤️ pic.twitter.com/GFPkgvqtrg
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The massacre by Jansen and Rabada meant that Afghanistan became the first team to lose five wickets in the powerplay in a T20 World Cup semifinal match. It was also the second time that South Africa took five wickets in the first six overs. The last time they did it was in 2010, again, against Afghanistan. Rabada finished the match with two wickets for 14 runs in three overs.
The quick strikes left Rashid Khan and his teammates shell-shocked and they did not recover from that onslaught.
The introduction of Anrich Nortje into the attack after the powerplay meant that there was no respite for Afghanistan. The pacer ran in to bowl to an attack-minded Azmatullah Omarzai. The middle-order batter had decided to fight fire with fire. He tried to launch Nortje beyond the fence in the off-side but only managed to send the ball straight to Tristan Stubbs stationed at deep cover. Omarzai's wicket was Nortje's 50th T20I scalp.
Nortje was forced to wait until the 11th over for his second wicket, but the wait was worth it as it was the scalp of Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan captain. He finished the match with two wickets for seven runs in three overs.
8 wins from 8 games 🔥 South Africa has cooked in this tournament 👏 #T20WorldCup #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/3e0vF3F5zC
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Before Rashid Khan's dismissal, Afghanistan had mounted a fightback through his seventh-wicket partnership with Karim Janat. The pair stitched a partnership that saw them to the 50-run mark. They scored 22 off 17 deliveries.
That stand was undone by Tabraiz Shamsi, who looked as unplayable as South Africa's pacers. The mystery spinner bagged two wickets, with almost identical deliveries, to dismiss Janat and Noor Ahmed in the space of three balls. The spinner bagged three wickets in his 1.5 overs at a cost of six runs and recorded the best bowling figures in the contest.
A 32-year wait ends ✊ #SAvAFG #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/BTwRaoaEZa
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 27, 2024
"There is a lot of hard work to be done, especially in the middle order. We need to be aggressive and have someone to take the innings deep," Rashid Khan said, summing up his side's batting performance. However, the Afghanistan captain also had a positive takeaway, acknowledging that their maiden appearance in the semifinal will go a long way in building their confidence in their abilities.
Omarzai, who struck two fours, was the best batter for Afghanistan with 10 runs. Gulbadin Naib scored the second-most runs with nine, and Janat and Rashid Khan managed eight runs each.
SOUTH AFRICA: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (capt), David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
AFGHANISTAN: Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (capt), Nangeyalia Kharote, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi