TAROUBA, TRINIDAD: South Africa lost to Afghanistan by nine wickets in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on Thursday.
This was South Africa’s first appearance in a World Cup final (T20 and ODI), going unbeaten in the tournament.
The only time the South African men’s team reached the final in an ICC event was in 1998, when the Proteas returned to the inaugural ICC Knockout Cup (now known as the Champions Cup) in Dhaka.
Chasing a paltry 57, South Africa came home in 8.5 overs for the loss of one wicket.
Quinton de Kock (5 off 8) was dismissed by Fazalhaq Farooqui but captain Aiden Markram (23 off 21) and opener Reeza Hendricks (29 off 25) ensured South Africa got over the line comfortably.
Earlier, Afghanistan won the tournament and decided to fight against South Africa.
Batting first, Afghanistan were bowled out for just 56 in 11.5 overs after a brilliant bowling performance by the Proteas.
Marco Ansansen and Tabrazi Shamsi scored three goals each, while Kagiso Rabada and Henrich Nortje grabbed two goals each.
Sorry, only Azmatullah Omarzai has double figures with 10 goals.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad were all dismissed for ducks.
56 runs is the lowest total by a team in a T20 World Cup semi-final match. This is Afghanistan’s lowest total in T20Is.
This is also the lowest total in a knockout match in men’s T20Is. The previous low was Botswana’s 62nd appearance in the semi-finals of the 2023 ACA Cup.
“I thought the boys played really well and executed well. For us it was just sticking to the plan and playing our best. The scoring ticket gave us some runs and we wanted to keep it simple. ] and it will happen again tomorrow.” said Marco Jansen after receiving the Player of the Match flag.
Both teams did not make any changes in their lineup for this match.
