South Africa Reaches First Ever World Cup Final

South Africa Reaches First Ever World Cup Final

They bowled out Afghanistan for just 56 runs in 11.5 overs, which is Afghanistan's lowest score in this format.

South Africa’s team has reached the final of the ICC men’s event for the first time since 1998 by beating Afghanistan in the first Semifinal of the 2024 T20 World Cup in Trinidad. This represents their first time making it to the World Cup semifinal after making seven prior bids. They will now compete against either India or England in the final game.

South Africa's fast bowlers influenced the game against Afghanistan. They bowled out Afghanistan for just 56 runs in 11.5 overs, which is Afghanistan's lowest score in this format. Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, and Anrich Nortje combined for seven wickets, while Tabraiz Shamsi secured the final three wickets. This swift display concluded Afghanistan's batting ordeal.

Where Did They Triumph in the Semifinal?

At the start of the match, both skippers desired to bat initially. However, Rashid Khan won the toss, so his team had to deal with tricky conditions including swinging balls, unpredictable bounces, and a strong pace attack.

Afghanistan -

The Initial Phase: 28/5 (RR: 4.67, 4s/6s: 4/0)

Afghanistan's strategy in the tournament has focused on their opening batsmen scoring well early on, while their strong bowling lineup puts pressure on the other team's score. Despite the earlier three principal partnerships between the two players, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran are separated in the first over of the game and manage only two runs. Jansen the bowler used a combination of short balls and balls of a slightly longer duration to deceive Gurbaz and Our hero made a mistake that saw him get bowled out for no addition to the score.  Gulbadin Naib came next and hit two boundaries, but was soon out to another delivery from Jansen that moved unpredictably and hit his stumps. Aiden Markram, seeing this success, quickly replaced Keshav Maharaj with Kagiso Rabada. Rabada then bowled brilliantly, getting two batters out in consecutive deliveries by making the ball move sharply, hitting their stumps. Jansen later took another wicket, leaving Afghanistan with five players out, as he made Nangeyalia Kharote glove a short delivery to the wicketkeeper.

The Middle Phase: 28/5 (RR: 4.80, 4s/6s: 3/0)

In South Africa's cricket match, they bowled very fast. Nortje, one of their bowlers, quickly got Azmatullah Omarzai out, making the score 28/6. Even though Captain Rashid hit a couple of good shots, he got out to a fast delivery from Nortje. The rest of Afghanistan's team couldn't handle Shamsi's bowling, and he got three players out with LBW (leg before wicket) appeals.

South Africa- 

The Initial Phase: 34/1 (RR: 5.67, 4s/6s: 5/0)

During the game, South Africa faced challenges but managed to handle them well. Quinton de Kock got hit on his ribs by a bowler named Fazalhaq Farooqi. At the same time, another bowler, Naveen-ul-Haq, almost got Aiden Markram out, but the umpire didn't notice the ball touching the bat, so there was no review. Afghanistan's bowlers struggled a bit due to their height and speed, which made it harder for them to get wickets. Because of this and a low target to chase, South Africa's Markram and Reeza Hendricks steadily moved closer to winning the game.

The Middle Phase: 26/0 (RR: 9.17, 4s/6s: 3/1)

After the first part of the game, South Africa didn't have much left to chase. Markram and Hendricks only needed 17 balls to win. They were unsure about how the ball would bounce on the ground, but the South African captain hit two great shots. Hendricks finished the game strongly with a six and a four.

Score summary- 

South Africa easily beat Afghanistan in a cricket match. Afghanistan scored only 56 runs before getting all out. South Africa then chased this target easily, scoring 60 runs with the loss of only one wicket.