The darlings of world cricket, Afghanistan’s fairytale in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup got chocked by South Africa.
The Afghans after breaking into the semis for the first time in tournament history, failed to live upto expectations.
The emerging South Asian cricket nation crumbled for 56 runs to the Proteas in the first semi-final of the competition at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad Thursday [BST].
Batting first, Afghanistan produced one of the lowest totals in this edition as they failed to sustain against the South Africa pace unit early in the game on the Tarouba surface which not only offered lateral movement but also a lot of bounce.
The Proteas later chased down the paltry target inside nine overs with nine wickets to spare.
In their 2024 T20 World Cup journey, Afghanistan won five out of eight games, including the famous victories against former champions Australia in the Super Eight and New Zealand in the group stage.
They stormed into the semis riding on a narrow eight-run [Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method] win against Bangladesh in their last Super Eight clash that had turned into an unofficial quarter-final fixture.
“We came here before the tournament and if you told us we would be playing the semi-final against South Africa, we would accept that. Winning big games in this competition...and yes, we are capable of beating any side. Next time when we participate in a tournament like this, we will have the belief,” said Afghan captain Rashid Khan following the game.
Speaking on Afghanistan’s campaign and how they managed the challenges given that the side were not considered one of the title contenders, star all-rounder Rashid said: “It's about how you manage yourself in those pressure situations against tough teams. There is a lot of hard work to be done, especially in the middle-order. We need to be aggressive and have someone to take the innings deep. We have achieved some good results but when we come back in the tournament, we need to do better, especially in the batting department.”
Rashid is of the opinion that the condition at Brian Lara Stadium was not in favor of Afghanistan and thus the result.
“I think it was a tough night for us as a team and we could've done better. But condition didn't let us do that but you should be mentally ready for any situation. I thought we didn't bat well. We were struggling when Mujeeb (Ur Rahman) got injured, but (Mohammad) Nabi, Fazal (Fazalhaq Farooqi)...that made our job as a spinning unit easier. The consistency in bowling was something pleasing for me,” said Rashid.
With the win, South Africa became the first finalist of the 20-nation tournament.
The occasion is also the first for the side to play an International Cricket Council event final.
The Proteas will know their opponent for the finale following Thursday’s second semi-final between India and Australia in Guyana.
The match is scheduled to start at 8:30pm [BST].
