South Africa and Afghanistan created history in the T20 World Cup when their group match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday required two Super Overs before South Africa finally prevailed in a game they should have won in normal time having scored 187-6.
But a calamitous final over from Kagiso Rabada containing two no balls and a wide, with Afghanistan’s last pair at the crease requiring 13 to win led to the first Super Over in which both teams scored 17.
There was even greater drama in the second Super Over after Tristan Stubbs hit Azmatullah Omarzai for six and David Miller plundered two more to take 23 from the over.
Keshav Maharaj replaced Lungi Ngidi as the designated bowler in the second Super Over and started with a dot ball and a wicket leaving Afghanistan requiring four sixes from the remaining four deliveries to win the match and Rahmanullah Gurbaz smashed the first three of those balls over the legside boundary.
Maharaj strayed too far outside off-stump with the next ball which was called wide leaving Gurbaz to hit a six for victory – or a four to tie the scores once again and force an unprecedented third Super Over. But this time Maharaj perfected his wide yorker and Gurbaz could only squeeze a drive into Miller’s hands at backward point and South Africa, finally, had their second victory of the tournament.
Earlier Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton added 114 for the second wicket to set up South Africa’s formidable total but they had to withstand a whirlwind 84 from just 42 balls from Gurbaz before, apparently, taking control of the game.
Gurbaz drove Kagiso Rabada over long on, upper cut Marco Jansen over third man and smashed George Linde’s first ball over extra cover for sixes inside the Power Play as the 50 was reached from just 4.2 overs.
The innings changed course dramatically when three wickets fell in just six balls but the extraordinary Gurbaz found a willing ally in Darwish Rasooli and the run-chase, having slumped from 51-0 to 52-3, was back on track with a stand of 69 before both men were dismissed with score on 121.
Opener Ibrahim Zadran (12) was bowled by Ngidi’s famous slower ball and Gulbadin Naib (0) fell victim to the same delivery two balls later when he chipped a return catch to the bowler. When left hander Sediqullah Atal (0) leg-glanced Rabada to Jansen at short fine leg Afghanistan were reeling.
But the incorrigible and brilliant Gurbaz looked like he could win the match single-handedly blazing seven sixes and four fours before slicing a drive against Maharaj to short third man where Linde held a fine, low catch.
Afghanistan required 30 runs from the final three overs with just three wickets remaining and Ngidi put the Proteas in the driving seat with a wicket and just six runs coming from the 18th. Jansen claimed another wicket in the 19th but conceded 11 runs leaving Afghanistan’s last pair with the unlikely task of scoring 13 against Rabada in the final over.
Rabada inexplicably over-stepped with his first delivery and followed it up with a legside wide before Noor Ahmad heaved a six over square leg. Rabada’s second no-ball left the requirement at two runs from three balls but Mujeeb-ur-Rahman was run out attempting the second which would have won the game and it was Super Over time.
Earlier left handers de Kock and Rickelton scored contrasting but equally valuable half centuries with de Kock slightly more measured at the top of the innings with 59 from 41 balls which included five fours and three sixes before pulling a short delivery from Afghan captain Rashid Khan to midwicket.
Rickelton, too, made a steady start before bursting into life with a flurry of boundaries in the middle of the innings which saw 23 runs come from the 10th over bowled by Noor Ahmed, one of four spinners used by Afghanistan.
Pure and clinical ball-striking from Rickelton, especially over midwicket and long on, earned him five fours and a four sixes in a bristling 61 from just 28 balls before a quicker delivery from Rashid (4-0-28-2) trapped him lbw with an optimistic review unable to save him.
Dewald Brevis also opted for a ‘steady’ rather than ‘flying’ start but flat-batted seamer Azmatullah Omarzai (4-0-41-3) to mid off to depart for 23 from 19 balls (1x4, 1x6) while Tristan Stubbs (1) attempted a lap-sweep against the same bowler and top-edged to short fine leg.
Stubbs, however, was to become one of many heroes later when, with six runs required from the final delivery of the first Super Over to tie the scores, he drove a low full toss from seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi straight back over the bowler’s head into the stands.
The victory puts the Proteas level with New Zealand at the top of Group D with four points and leaves Afghanistan winless after two matches. Canada and the UAE complete the group.
SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock (wkt), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
AFGHANISTAN: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wkt), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (captain), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi