After an inspiring run in the tournament, the Afghans will return home with their heads held high. South Africa will play the winner of the second semifinal between India and England for the championship.
South Africa defeated an emotionally spent Afghanistan by nine wickets to advance to their first-ever T20 World Cup final in Trinidad, casting aside their agonizing semifinal jinx with a wonderful run of pace bowling. The Afghans will leave the competition with their heads held high, having had an inspiring run, and they will play the winners of the second semifinal between India and England for the championship. After being summoned to bowl, Anrich Nortje (2/7), Kagiso Rabada (2/14) and Marco Jansen (3/16) tore the soul out of the Afghanistan top-order, dismissing them for a pitiful 56 in just 11.5 overs.
In 8.5 overs, the Proteas reached 60 for one with no difficulty, even after Quinton de Kock was bowled through the gate by the formidable pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Their skipper, Aiden Markram (23 not out), and batsman Reeza Hendricks (29 not out), who recorded his best score in this event, guided them securely to win as they have now successfully broken free from the agonizing label of chokers in international events.
Despite having given it their all to get to the World Cup semifinals, Afghanistan’s performance in the pivotal match was lackluster and belied their previous level of tenacity.
They appeared exceptionally nervous when batting against the South African pacers, who conjured a spell from hell, as a result of it.
After bringing the Afghans down to 28 for five during the Powerplay, they were unable to recover and ended up with their lowest-ever total in a Twenty20 international.
In a T20 World Cup semifinal match, their 56 was also the lowest total.
Afghanistan was destroyed even before the World Cup started, and after being reduced to 28 for six, they were unable to muster even a scrap of resistance.
Aside from deliveries that bounced up from a length, the South African pacers were spot on, but the Afghan batters also bear some of the blame for being overly cautious on a pitch that concealed no dangers.
The first player to fall was Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who was trying to grab Reeza Hendricks’ delivery at slip after Jansen had delivered it outside the off-stump.
A stunning in-coming delivery by Jansen devoured Gulbadin Naib, and the removal of the in-form Gurbaz appeared to inject doses of panic into the Afghanistan lineup.
The bowler’s skill and the irrationality of the batsmen combined to result in the next two dismissals.
When Rabada’s delivery came back a little, Ibrahim Zadran, on whom the Afghans were placing a lot of hope, did not move his feet at all. The space was sufficient for the ball to elude the bat and pad and jar Zadran’s hindquarters.
Mohammad Nabi was dismissed three balls into the fourth over, and it went something like this, with Rabada disturbing the off-stump this time.
When Azmatullah Omarzai’s scalp was discovered by Tristan Stubbs in the depths, Nortje became a member of the group.
The top run scorers for Afghanistan in this ICC showcase, Gurbaz, Zadran, and Omarzai, managed a pitiful 12 runs between them on the important day.
In order to witness the stump closest to his legs cartwheeling around the field, skipper Rashid Khan, who had the opportunity to make some crucial runs, decided to expose all of his stumps to Nortje.
Leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (3/6) removed Karim Jannat and Noor Ahmad from the Afghanistan batting lineup with two wickets in an over.
