South Africa into its Maiden T20 WC Finals

The men’s cricket team from South Africa didn’t make it to the final in 18 World Cups and 32 years. Laughed at as the cricket world’s enduring chokers, South Africa would finally have their chance at glory and atonement, which the commentators felt was long overdue, on June 29 in the T20 World Cup final in Barbados.

Their opponents won’t be revealed until India takes on England in the semi-final in Guyana later on in the day, but in Tarouba’s Brian Lara Stadium, it was all South Africa. Afghanistan’s incredible run in the competition came to an end as the Proteas produced a ball exhibition never seen before. For the Proteas, it was their first win in eight short-format World Cup semifinals dating back to 1992.

“Excellent sensation. We performed flawlessly, and the players played incredibly well. All we wanted to do was follow the strategy, bowl good distances, and see the wicket’s reaction. Player of the Match Marco Jansen stated, “It was important to keep things simple because the wicket was becoming a little open.”

South Africa are through to their first Men's #T20WorldCup Final 🙌 pic.twitter.com/KwPr74MUJc

— ICC (@ICC) June 27, 2024

With the new ball, the left-arm pacer set up the Afghanistan collapse, taking three wickets in the powerplay to end with stats of 3/16. Kagiso Rabada, his new ball partner, wasn’t far behind. His match-winning double-wicket maiden in the match’s fourth over destroyed Afghanistan’s batting order.

In a T20 World Cup semi-final, South Africa became the first team to take five wickets during the powerplay thanks to the efforts of Jansen and Rabada.

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Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi combined to take the final five wickets, leaving Afghanistan for 56, their lowest score in T20Is and the lowest score in a T20 World Cup semi-final history. Afghanistan did not have much of a chance to recover after the powerplay.

South Africa Dominance over Afgani Bowlers

Fazalhaq Farooqi removed Quinton de Kock early in the event due to stuttering South Africa’s batting, but Reeza Hendricks and captain Aiden Markram guided the Proteas to their mark in nine overs with no further losses.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat in their first-ever semi-final, having defeated Bangladesh in an exciting Super Eight encounter on Monday in St. Vincent.

The Afghan batting lineup was led by three century opening partnerships between Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the tournament’s leading run scorer, and Ibrahim Zadran during their incredible journey to the last four.

Quick with the left arm But with just four runs scored in the opening over, Jansen (3-16) removed Gurbaz for a duck and came back in the third over to dismiss Gulbadin Naib for nine.

Zadran and Mohammad Nabi were both bowled for a few runs each in the fourth over by pacer Kagiso Rabada (2-14), causing little relief from the other end.

Afghanistan became the first side to score less than 100 runs in a T20 World Cup semi-final when left-arm wrist spinner Shamsi (3-6) swept up the tail after third quick Anrich Nortje (2-7) chipped in with a couple of wickets.

Afghanistan’s spinners made it plain that the South African batsmen would have to earn their spot in the final. Afghanistan has been rewarded for their perseverance throughout this tournament, despite the poor outlook for their team.

Left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi, who has taken the most wickets in the competition, made de Kock his 17th victim in the second over when he swung a ball in at the opening and broke his stumps.

But as they crept closer to their modest goal, Hendricks (29 not out) and Markram (23 not out) were content to play through dot balls and wait for their opportunities to score.

With a six off a free hit and a four off consecutive balls, opener Hendricks pulled them across the finish line and extended South Africa’s winning run at the tournament to eight games.