Caribbean ( Commonwealth) _ Following a decisive victory over Afghanistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final, South Africa has achieved a historic qualifying into the ICC men’s World Cup final for the first time.
Men’s cricketing history was made when South Africa defeated Afghanistan by nine wickets in Trinidad to become the first-ever 2024 World Cup finalists. Prior to this, South Africa had never been in a World Cup final in either the 50-over or T20I formats.
Quinton de Kock fell in the second over, but the Proteas recovered quickly, with captain Aiden Markram (23 in 21) and Reeza Hendricks (29 in 25) guiding the side over the finish line and into their maiden final. Afghanistan had been dismissed for only 56 runs. Afghanistan lost an opportunity in the third over when they did not examine Markram’s inside edge when he was on zero. They reached the aim with 67 balls remaining without any further difficulties.
Earlier, Afghanistan was shocked from the start as Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who was in form, was dismissed for a three-ball duck in Marco Jansen’s opening over. The Afghan batsmen were unable to come up with a response against the potent pace assault as the lanky quick got the ball to swing and varied up his lengths well.
Afghanistan was down to 20-4 after Kagiso Rabada sent back Ibrahim Zadran and Mohammad Nabi in a double-wicket maiden over. In 6.3 overs, Afghanistan was up to 28-6. With a swift 24-run partnership for the seventh wicket, Rashid Khan and Karim Janat attempted to turn the innings around.
Afghanistan was subsequently knocked out for 56, the lowest total in the T20 World Cup knockout stages, after losing three wickets for no runs. Tabraiz Shamsi and Jansen both finished with three wickets, with the former taking up the Player of the Match trophy for his for his 3–16 figure range.
After humiliating Afghanistan in the semifinals, South Africa advanced to their first men’s T20 World Cup final. In their nine-wicket victory in Trinidad, the Proteas—who had lost all seven of their prior World Cup semi-finals in all formats—triumphed Afghanistan for 56 runs in 11.5 overs on a challenging ground.
They now advance undefeated to the Barbados final on Saturday in an attempt to win a World Cup for the first time. They will play either India or England, who square off in Thursday’s second semi-final in Guyana at 15:30 BST.
Proteas make history
The semi-final troubles of South Africa have been agonizing on a regular basis. There was the 1992 rain, the 1999 thrilling draw with Australia, and the 2015 New Zealand defeat in the final over. They wouldn’t have lasted long if there had been anxiety this time in the Caribbean.
In the meantime, South Africa advances and has a genuine chance of winning the championship. Their top three batters are still nursing a lot of injuries, but they have advanced on yet another odd night after battling through five close games to get here.
Afghanistan defeated on the surface
Aiden Markram, the captain of South Africa, stated that he would have similarly chosen to bat first had he won the toss, despite disagreements over Afghanistan’s choice to do so. The biggest error made by Afghanistan occurred during the toss. On another day, skipper Rashid Khan would never have let his team to bat first on a pitch like this.
Despite the fact that Gurbaz was the first wicket to fall, Jansen’s 6ft 9ins gave him ample bounce. One ball leaped to strike Azmatullah’s left elbow in his second over.
After stealing Rabada’s opening delivery, Ibrahim bowled Mohammad Nabi three balls later as the South African quickly got the ball to seam back through the gate. When Azmatullah hit to deep cover in his opening over, Anrich Nortje also struck and later bowled Rashid as the Afghanistan skipper retreated.
After Rashid had earlier witnessed a ball lift off a length and over the wicketkeeper, it came as little surprise. Regarding South Africa’s pursuit, the initial ball stayed low, but the subsequent ball sliced back, striking De Kock in the body.
At throat-height, several stood up to pass the batter. Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram barely made it through 29 and 23 years old, respectively. It wasn’t very attractive at times.
