Afghanistan’s hopes of qualifying for the T20 World Cup were cruelly dashed on Wednesday as South Africa defeated the minnows by nine wickets with over 11 overs remaining to make it to the cricket showcase for the first time.
Afghanistan elected to bat, and left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (3 for 6) and gangling pacer Marco Jansen (3-16) took advantage of their frail batting lineup to be beaten for just 56 off 11.5 overs.
At Trinidad’s Brian Lara Stadium, fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje each took two wickets to continue the unrelenting pressure.
After Fazalhaq Farooqi’s tournament-leading 17th wicket, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock early in reply on a surface that helped all bowlers but left Afghanistan with too little to defend.
Reeza Hendricks (29 not out) and skipper Aiden Markram (23 not out) however, guided the Proteas to victory at 60 for one off 8.5 overs, sending them to the Barbados final on Saturday, where they will take on the victorious side from Thursday’s second semi-final between Guyana’s undefeated India and reigning champions England.
“It was just about sticking to our plans, keeping it simple and getting the results,” Man of the Match Jansen said of South Africa’s bowling display, which effectively put an end to the match. “We assessed pretty early that the wicket was giving us something to work with.”
The Afghans’ only player to score in double digits was Azmatullah Omarzai (10) and their greatest contribution to the pitiful total was 13 extras. It was an utterly depressing effort after the thrilling drama on Monday when they defeated Bangladesh in St. Vincent to go to the final four.
Afghanistan has relied on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to offer them a strong platform and at the same time hide the weaknesses of the rest of the batting line-up during their incredible run to their first senior men’s global event semifinal.
“A difficult night for us,”
However, the worst concerns of the Afghans and an increasing number of supporters in the Caribbean were realized when Jansen had Gurbaz caught at slip by Hendricks without scoring in the opening over of the encounter. The Proteas then relentlessly exploited their opponents’ technical shortcomings.
Afghan captain Rashid Khan remarked, “It was a difficult night for us as a team, but that’s how it goes in T20s.”
“You must prepare yourself mentally for any circumstance. We simply couldn’t bat well, and they bowled incredibly effectively.
For Markram, who won the 2014 Under-19 men’s championship in Dubai with South Africa, it was all about seizing the opportunity when it presented itself.
I suppose it was lucky for me to lose the toss since we would have batted as well. However, he added, “the bowlers still needed to get it in the right places, and they did that.”
“In a competition, it’s not really the captain who brings you to this point. It takes a tremendous team effort from everyone on and off the field.
This will be South Africa’s first senior men’s final since the Hansie Cronje-led team won the title match of the 1998 Champions Trophy in Bangladesh against Brian Lara’s West Indies squad.
Meanwhile, Afghan captain Rashid stated that his squad would reflect on their performance with optimism and pride for the future.
“We arrived here prior to the competition, and we would accept it if you informed us that we would be facing South Africa in the semifinals,” Rashid remarked. “Any side can be defeated by us.”
“We’ll have the belief the next time we take part in a competition like this. It all comes down to how you handle yourself while facing challenging teams under duress.
There is a great deal of labor to be done, particularly in the middle order. We need to perform better when we return to the tournament, particularly in the batting department, even though we have had some positive results.
