Before the tournament began, no one considered Afghanistan to reach the semifinals, except West Indies legend Brian Lara. Rashid Khan and his team later proved him right.
However, in the semifinal at the stadium named after Lara, the Afghan team was utterly defeated. They couldn’t even put up a fight against the Proteas. On the contrary, South Africa made history by crushing Afghanistan.
The Proteas reached the final of the T20 World Cup by defeating Afghanistan by 9 wickets. Shedding their “chokers” tag, this is their first-ever final in World Cup history.
At the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago, Afghanistan collapsed to a mere 56 runs after opting to bat first. This is their lowest total in T20Is. They couldn’t stand up against the Proteas’ pace attack. The highest score came from extras, totaling 13 runs. Only Azmatullah Omarzai (10) reached double figures. All other batters were dismissed for single-digit scores. Marco Jansen started the collapse, taking 3 wickets for just 16 runs in his 3 overs and was named Man of the Match. Tabraiz Shamsi also took three wickets, while Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje each claimed two wickets.
Chasing a target of 57 runs, South Africa had no trouble. Despite their reputation as chokers, there was some anxiety among their fans. However, the Proteas overcame this fear successfully. After losing Quinton de Kock (5) early, Reeza Hendricks and captain Aiden Markram guided them to victory with 67 balls to spare, their biggest win in terms of balls remaining. Hendricks remained unbeaten on 29, while Markram was not out on 23, contributing to an unbroken 55-run partnership.
Meanwhile, in the other semifinal in Guyana, India will face England at 8:30 PM Bangladesh time.
