South Africa have secured a historic qualification into the ICC men's World Cup final for the first time following a convincing victory over Afghanistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final.
First ever final
South Africa had never played the final in either the 50–over World Cup or the T20I event in men’s cricket, but created history by becoming the first finalists of the 2024 event after beating Afghanistan by nine wickets in Trinidad.
After dismissing Afghanistan for just 56, the Proteas suffered an early blow as Quinton de Kock fell in the second over but it was an easy chase thereafter, with Reeza Hendricks (29 in 25) and skipper Aiden Markram (23 in 21) taking the team over the line and into their first final. There was a missed chance for Afghanistan in the third over when they failed to review an inside edge by Markram when he was on zero. There were no further hiccups as they chased down the target with 67 balls to spare.
SA's quicks run through Afghanistan
Earlier, Afghanistan were rocked early after in-form Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell for a three-ball duck in the first over by Marco Jansen. The lanky quick got the ball to swing and mixed up his lengths perfectly as the Afghan batters were unable to find any answers against the quality pace attack.
A double-wicket maiden over by Kagiso Rabada, where he sent back Ibrahim Zadran and Mohammad Nabi reduced Afghanistan to 20-4, which soon became 28-6 in 6.3 overs. Rashid Khan and Karim Janat tried to get the innings back on track with a quick 24-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Afghanistan then lost three wickets for no run and were soon bowled out for 56, the lowest score in the knockouts of the T20 World Cup.
Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi ended with three wickets each, with the former winning the Player of the Match award for his figures of 3-16.
Watch the highlights of the semi-final between SA vs AFG here:
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