South Africa have reached their first final since 1998 after clinching a nine-wicket win over Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup semi-final at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.
Afghanistan elected to bat, and left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (3 for 6) and gangling pacer Marco Jansen (3-16) took advantage of their frail batting lineup to be beaten for just 56 off 11.5 overs.
At Trinidad’s Brian Lara Stadium, fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje each took two wickets to continue the unrelenting pressure.
After Fazalhaq Farooqi’s tournament-leading 17th wicket, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock early in reply on a surface that helped all bowlers but left Afghanistan with too little to defend.
Reeza Hendricks (29 not out) and skipper Aiden Markram (23 not out) however, guided the Proteas to victory at 60 for one off 8.5 overs, securing their place in the Barbados final on Saturday. There, they will take on the victorious side from Thursday’s second semi-final between Guyana’s undefeated India and reigning champions England.
“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,” Man of the Match Jansen said of South Africa’s bowling display, which effectively ended the match as a contest.
With only Azmatullah Omarzai (10) scoring in double digits, the Afghans’ meagre contribution to the total was 13 extras. This was a very disappointing effort after the thrilling drama on Monday when they defeated Bangladesh in St. Vincent to get to the final four.
Afghanistan has relied on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to offer them a strong platform and at the same time hide the weaknesses of the rest of the batting line-up during their incredible run to their first senior men’s global event semifinal.
However, the worst concerns of the Afghans and a rising number of spectators in the Caribbean were realised when Jansen had Gurbaz caught at slip by Hendricks without scoring in the opening over of the encounter as the Proteas brutally exploited their opponents’ mechanical shortcomings.
“It was a tough night for us as a team, but that 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.”
For Markram, who won the 2014 South African Under-19 men’s championship in Dubai, it was all about seizing the moment.
“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,” he explained.
“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 the first senior men’s final for South Africa since the Hansie Cronje-led team won the title match of the 1998 Champions Trophy in Bangladesh against Brian Lara’s West Indies squad.
Meanwhile, Afghan captain Rashid stated that his squad would reflect on their performance with optimism and pride for the future.
“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,” Rashid said. “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.”
Photo by T20 World Cup website
