T20 World Cup 2024 : Afghanistan vs South Africa Match Preview, ICC T20 World Cup 2024

1st Semi-Final • Brian Lara Stadium • Tarouba

Afghanistan

56/10 (11.5)

South Africa

60/1 (8.5)

SA won by 9 wickets

Info

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Scorecard

Stats

Playing XI

Date & Time

27 Jun, 06:00 AM IST

Venue

Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba

TV/Streaming

Disney+ Hotstar, Star Sports

Match

1st Semi-Final ,

Umpires

Nitin Menon (India), Richard Illingworth (England), Richard Kettleborough (England, TV)

Referee

Richie Richardson (West Indies)

Toss

Afghanistan elected to bat

Pitch Report

Does not look like a batting paradise, and seems to have some patchy grass and a few cracks. One of the central strips is being used, which means the square boundaries are relatively equidistant. Decent hit straight down the ground. Ramiz Raja, former Pakistan cricketer, feels that 150 could be a good score on a surface that might have some variable bounce.

1st Innings

133Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

125.05Avg SR

2nd Innings

95Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

109.66Avg SR

Playing XILineups Out

Head To Head (Last 10 Matches)

2- 0

AFG

Team Form (Recent 5 Matches, Latest First)

South Africa

Afghanistan

Players to Watch

Top Batters

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

AFG . WK

281 Runs

7 Matches

Ibrahim Zadran

AFG . BAT

229 Runs

7 Matches

Quinton de Kock

SA . WK

199 Runs

7 Matches

Top Bowlers

Fazalhaq Farooqi

AFG . BOWL

16 Wkts

7 Matches

Rashid Khan

AFG . BOWL

14 Wkts

7 Matches

Naveen ul Haq

AFG . BOWL

13 Wkts

7 Matches

TIPS

AFG vs SA Dream11 Prediction: Fantasy Cricket Tips, Today's Playing 11, and Pitch Report for ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, 1st Semi Final

Playing XILineups Out

Fantasy Top Picks

Expert Team 1

R Khan

Q de Kock

Expert Team 2

Q de Kock

K Rabada

TIPS

AFG vs SA Dream11 Prediction: Fantasy Cricket Tips, Today's Playing 11, and Pitch Report for ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, 1st Semi Final

Venue Details

Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba

1st Innings

133Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

125.05Avg SR

2nd Innings

95Avg Runs

6Avg Wkts

109.66Avg SR

Toss winners opt to

44%Bat First Bowl First56%

Team Batting First

40%Wins Losses60%

Recent Matches on venue

No match found

Team Form (Last 5 Matches, Most recent first)

Team Form (Last 5 Matches)

South Africa

Afghanistan

Head To Head (Last 10 Matches)

2- 0

AFG

Team Comparison (Last 10 Matches)

Matches Played

Matches Won

139

Average Score

137

194/4

Highest Score

183/5

80/4

Lowest Score

101/3

2 1 1 0 0 4

Over 6

Runs: 8

0 0 1 0 0 0

Over 7

Runs: 1

1 2 0 1 4 0

Over 8

Runs: 8

1 4 0 1nb 6 4

Over 9

Runs: 16

All Overs

Player of the Match Marco Jansen

3/16

Lucky Winner Rikson Pinto

Commentary

So that's it. Afghanistan had a brilliant run. Wins over New Zealand and Australia, reaching the semis for the first time. It's something that'll stay with them forever. They have a lot to work on with getting the balance right in the middle order and beefing the team with more experience, which will happen with time. But they have shown they are no longer upset-makers but proper contenders. For South Africa, well, we are going to see more of them. This is a special team with a special mix of players who look so happy to be around each other. They are unbeaten and the winner of England or India will know they won't choke this time. Special days coming ahead and Sportskeeda will be here to take you through them. For now, though, it's Rudransh signing off on behalf of Shashwat who's getting a tasty feature ready for you. Good bye and have an excellent rest of your day!

Aiden Markram: It feels good. It's not really the captain that gets you this far. It's the backroom staff and the players on the fringes too. Special bowling performance. We a got a bit of luck because we wanted to bat too. They kept things really simple, assessed the conditions and adapted the plans. It was quite tough. The pitch going up and down does play a role. We knew it was just about getting a partnership. We know we have had a lot of close games. They are people at home waking up early and we have given them a lot of grey hairs. Hopefully this is more comforting. One more step. Nothing to fear, it's an exciting opportunity. There's a lot of belief in this squad. We are tying to see it very simply. There are a lot of external pressures but if we can keep our heads straight, we'll get there.

Rashid Khan: It was a tough night for us. We might have done a little bit better but the conditions didn't let us do how we wanted. But that's what T20s are about, we need to be ready for any kind of conditions. They batted really well. The way they (seamers) stood up for us got us this far. They were getting us really good starts. We were worried when Mujeeb got injured but it was pleasing to see Fazal and Naveen step up with the new ball. We have enjoyed a lot. We would have taken playing in the semi-final against South Africa before the tournament. Beating big teams in this competition was really special. It's just the start. We showed we are capable of beating anyone. Next time in such a tournament, the belief would be there with us. You know you have the skills but from these tournaments, you take away how you manage yourself in such situations. We need to be better in the middle order, we need someone to carry the game forward. If we can improve that area, we'll be much stronger. That's the learning. We'll do much better, especially in the batting department.

Stay tuned for the post-match presentation where we'll hear from both captains...

Marco Jansen, Player of the Match: Awesome feeling. The guys played really well. (On their bowling plans) It was about sticking to our plans and bowling our best ball, seeing how the wicket behaves and then reacting to it. Assessment was that the wicket was giving us a bit to work with, so it was about keeping it simple and hitting our areas. (On Markram as a captain) He is awesome, keeps everyone calm on the field. We will enjoy the win and we will be on it tomorrow again.

AND THAT'S IT! SOUTH AFRICA ARE MEN'S T20 WORLD CUP FINALISITS FOR THE FIRST TIME! CHOKERS NO MORE, THESE ARE CLUTCH PLAYERS, THIS IS A CLUTCH TEAM THAT SOMEHOW JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER WITH PRESSURE! A lot of good visuals coming in. So many hugs, Miller raises his thumbs at the crowd. The wives and girlfriends of the players share embraces too. A great day for South African cricket.

End of the match!

South Africa win by 9 wickets (with 67 balls remaining)!

Reeza Hendricks 29* (25) | Tabraiz Shamsi (3/6)
Azmatullah Omarzai 10 (12) | Fazalhaq Farooqi (1/11)

A commanding, commanding win for South Africa. It just doesn't get more perfect than this. A nine-wicket win, just about 20 overs used in total to get there. After jumping steps and crossing finish lines in final-over thrillers in the group stage and the Super Eights, they have blown away their semi-final opponents.

Afghanistan were a bit too slow to realize how difficult this pitch was to bat on. By the time they did, it was too late and Jansen and Rabada had run through half of their line-up. Nortje and Shamsi took over and didn't find it too difficult to clean up the tale and keep Afghanistan down to a record-low total.

When they came to bat, South Africa used the benefit of hindsight to be much more sensible against the new ball. Farooqi took de Kock out in the second over but nothing more went the Afghans' way as South Africa finally found some form off the bats of Markram and Hendricks, who picked their moments to find boundaries and squeeze as many runs as possible. The pitch was still quite difficult to bat on but they had time on their hands to deal with it.

As the powerplay ended with just one wicket, Afghanistan lost the remaining confidence and the duo pounced on big time. An unbelievable campaign comes to an end for Afghanistan. An unbelievable campaign goes to the next and final step for South Africa. This tournament keeps on giving and we can't be happier about it.

8.5 Azmatullah Omarzai to Reeza Hendricks, THERE IT IS! SOUTH AFRICA'S MEN'S TEAM CLEARS THE SEMI-FINAL HURDLE, AT LAST! Half-volley on off stump. Hendricks presses forward and cracks it down the ground past mid off. Embraces all around in the South African camp - this is a moment that they have longed for, and waited an eternity for, and it is finally here!

8.4 Azmatullah Omarzai to Reeza Hendricks, GOES ALL THE WAY! SCORES LEVEL! Dug in short on middle and leg. Hendricks backs away and swats at it. Does not middle it but gets enough of a top edge to clear the fine leg fence. South Africa are almost there!

8.4 Azmatullah Omarzai to Aiden Markram, length outside off. Markram has a big swish at it and the ball rolls off the inside edge past the stumps. Hendricks is alert enough to sneak in a single. Uh-oh, looks like Omarzai has overstepped too...

8.3 Azmatullah Omarzai to Aiden Markram, shortish on leg stump. Markram has a massive swipe across the line and misses. Wears a blow on the hip for his toil

Jason - Surely we see this pitch receive a poor rating? - Yep, we think so too!

8.2 Azmatullah Omarzai to Aiden Markram, GORGEOUS! Back of a length outside off and Markram stamps his authority. Rises with the bounce and then pumps it over long off!

8.1 Azmatullah Omarzai to Reeza Hendricks, back of a length outside off. Hendricks stabs it towards deep cover point

Even Naib looked short of confidence and that tells you all you need to know. Markram has played a blinder her too. Both him and Hendricks have stepped up at just the right moment for South Africa which will give them a ton of confidence going into the finals.

overs

43 /1 score

runs

Aiden Markram *

18 (18)

Reeza Hendricks

18 (22)

Gulbadin Naib

0 /8

7.6 Gulbadin Naib to Aiden Markram, full outside off. Markram gets decent purchase on his square drive but cannot beat backward point

7.5 Gulbadin Naib to Aiden Markram, SHOT! Banged in short outside off. Markram picks the length early, stands tall and hammers it well in front of square. Over mid wicket, and SA inch closer to their first men's World Cup final!

7.4 Gulbadin Naib to Reeza Hendricks, back of a length outside off. Hendricks gets up on his toes and punches it past extra cover

7.3 Gulbadin Naib to Reeza Hendricks, length outside off. Hendricks presses half forward and stabs it into the off side