Rassie van der Dussen hit an unbeaten 76 to lead South Africa to a comfortable five-wicket win over Afghanistan in their last World Cup group game on Friday.
As a warm-up for their semi-final match against Australia next week, Van der Dussen led the Proteas to victory with 15 balls to spare. They were chasing 245 runs to win.
Afghanistan only needed a 438-run win to make it to the last four, but Azmatullah Omarzai hit 97 runs without being out to lead them to 244 all out.
India is hosting the other semi-final, and it looks like New Zealand will play them unless Pakistan pulls off a huge win over England on Saturday.
South Africa got off to a great start with a score of 64-0, but Afghanistan’s spinners stopped them. Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowled out captain Temba Bavuma for 23 runs, and Mohammad Nabi trapped Quinton de Kock lbw on 41.
Bavuma’s hamstring hurt him while he was fielding and hitting, which was a bad sign before their semi-final.
De Kock passed Rachin Ravindra of New Zealand (565) to reclaim the top spot in the tournament’s batting chart with 591 runs, including four centuries. He will no longer play one-day internationals after the World Cup is over.
The Proteas got their chase back on track with a 50-run stand between the third and fourth wickets, but Rashid Khan broke through by getting Aiden Markram out for 25.
Rashid bowled Heinrich Klaasen for 10, which looked like bad news for South Africa. But Van der Dussen stuck with it and formed partnerships, including one with Andile Phehlukwayo that went 65 runs without being out. Phehlukwayo hit the winning six while being unbeaten for 39.
Afghanistan was down to 116-6 at one point, but Azmatullah played his best ODI to bring the team back up to a respectable score.
Gerald Coetzee, a fast bowler from South Africa, got four wickets, and Keshav Maharaj, a spin bowler, had great numbers: 2-25.
De Kock was very important. With six wickets, he tied Adam Gilchrist of Australia (vs. Namibia in Potchefstroom, 2003) and Sarfaraz Ahmed of Pakistan (vs. South Africa in Auckland, 2015) for the most wickets taken in a World Cup match.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who were the openers, got off to a fast start. But Maharaj struck with his first ball and caught Gurbaz for 25.
In the next over, Coetzee sent Ibrahim back to stop the batting surge. When Maharaj caught captain Hashmatullah Shahidi behind for two, Afghanistan went from 41-0 to 45-3.
Three more wickets were lost, and Afghanistan was in danger of being bowled out before their 50-over limit. But Azmatullah stood firm and played out the innings.
Afghanistan, coached by Hashmatullah Shahidi, had a great season. They beat England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands to end it.
