South Africa Soar Into Maiden Men’s T20 World Cup Final With Crushing Victory Over Afghanistan
Johannesburg, November 10 – In a dominant display, the South Africa national cricket team booked their place in the maiden men’s T20 World Cup final with a resounding nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Afghanistan were skittled out for a paltry 56 runs, their lowest ever T20I total. South Africa’s pace trio of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje tormented the Afghan batters, reducing them to 28/6 within the first 6.3 overs. Spinner Tabraiz Shamsi then chipped in with three wickets as Afghanistan’s innings folded in just 20 overs.
“Fortunate to have lost the toss, I guess. We also would have batted, so we got a bit of luck with regards to that,” admitted South Africa captain Aiden Markram. “But the bowlers still had to get it in the right areas, and they did that brilliantly to make life really tough for the Afghanistan batters.”
In their chase of the minuscule target, South Africa lost opener Quinton de Kock early, but Reeza Hendricks and Markram comfortably knocked off the runs in just 8.5 overs to secure a comprehensive victory.
Markram acknowledged the challenging nature of the pitch, which saw significant movement and uneven bounce throughout the match. “A batter is not going to lie to you and say that once you get it up and down, it doesn’t play a role in your mind,” he said. “But we knew it was a matter of getting a partnership going and taking it out a bit up front.”
This victory comes after a series of close-fought wins for South Africa in the earlier stages of the tournament, which Markram said had been nerve-wracking for their supporters back home. “A lot of our games have been really close. And I know there’s a lot of people back at home in the early hours of the morning, waking up and we’re giving them a lot of grey hairs. So, hopefully this evening was a little bit more comforting for them.”
With this dominant performance, South Africa have secured their maiden appearance in the men’s T20 World Cup final, where they will face the winner of the second semi-final between India and England.
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