South Africa 60 for 1 (Hendricks 29*, Farooqi 1-11) beat Afghanistan 56 (Shamsi 3-6, Jansen 3-16) by nine wickets
South Africa's quicks ravaged Afghanistan's top order, taking five wickets inside the first five overs, to send the opposition spiraling towards their eventual 56 all out in the first semi-final of the men's T20 World Cup 2024.
Bowling first, South Africa's quicks dismantled Afghanistan's top order early on, reducing them to a dismal 56 all out. Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen starred with the ball, taking three wickets each, while Afghanistan struggled to cope with the relentless pressure.
In response, South Africa faced a minor hiccup with the early loss of Quinton de Kock but recovered swiftly as Aiden Markram and Reeza Hendricks calmly navigated the tricky conditions to achieve the target. Markram's composed innings, supported by Hendricks, ensured South Africa reached 60 for 1 with ease, securing their place in the tournament final.
Reflecting on the match, Markram expressed satisfaction with the team's performance, highlighting their disciplined bowling and resilient batting display. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Rashid Khan lamented his team's batting collapse and emphasized the need for improvement in future tournaments.
Marco Jansen was awarded the Player of the Match for his exceptional bowling figures, underscoring South Africa's dominance and determination as they prepare to vie for their first T20 World Cup title in the upcoming final.
Markram: It feels good. It's a massive squad effort. Really chuffed for us to have one more crack at lifting that trophy. Fortunate to have lost that toss - we also would've batted. The bowlers got it in the right areas and kept it really simple in these conditions. It's quite tough for batters but we knew it was a matter of partnership. We had a bit of luck and managed to get a bit of a partnership. There are a lot of people waking up with a little bit more grey hair, but this [comprehensive] win will be more comforting for them. We've never been there [final] before, but there's a lot of belief. It takes a full squad to put together a really good game of cricket.
Rashid: I think it was a tough night for us as a team and we could've done better than us. But conditions 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 got injured, but Nabi, Fazal...that made our job as a spinning unit easier. The consistency in bowling was something pleasing for me. 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. 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.
Marco Jansen, the Player of the Match: Think the guys played really well and executed well. For us, it was just sticking to the plan and bowling our best ball. The assessment was the wicket was giving us a few to work with and we just wanted to keep it simple. He's awesome and he keeps it calm. We will enjoy [the win] and be on it again tomorrow.
South Africa's quicks ravaged Afghanistan's top order, taking five wickets inside the first five overs, to send the opposition spiraling towards their eventual 56 all out in the first semi-final of the men's T20 World Cup 2024.
Bowling first, South Africa's quicks dismantled Afghanistan's top order early on, reducing them to a dismal 56 all out. Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen starred with the ball, taking three wickets each, while Afghanistan struggled to cope with the relentless pressure.
In response, South Africa faced a minor hiccup with the early loss of Quinton de Kock but recovered swiftly as Aiden Markram and Reeza Hendricks calmly navigated the tricky conditions to achieve the target. Markram's composed innings, supported by Hendricks, ensured South Africa reached 60 for 1 with ease, securing their place in the tournament final.
Reflecting on the match, Markram expressed satisfaction with the team's performance, highlighting their disciplined bowling and resilient batting display. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Rashid Khan lamented his team's batting collapse and emphasized the need for improvement in future tournaments.
Marco Jansen was awarded the Player of the Match for his exceptional bowling figures, underscoring South Africa's dominance and determination as they prepare to vie for their first T20 World Cup title in the upcoming final.
Markram: It feels good. It's a massive squad effort. Really chuffed for us to have one more crack at lifting that trophy. Fortunate to have lost that toss - we also would've batted. The bowlers got it in the right areas and kept it really simple in these conditions. It's quite tough for batters but we knew it was a matter of partnership. We had a bit of luck and managed to get a bit of a partnership. There are a lot of people waking up with a little bit more grey hair, but this [comprehensive] win will be more comforting for them. We've never been there [final] before, but there's a lot of belief. It takes a full squad to put together a really good game of cricket.
Rashid: I think it was a tough night for us as a team and we could've done better than us. But conditions 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 got injured, but Nabi, Fazal...that made our job as a spinning unit easier. The consistency in bowling was something pleasing for me. 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. 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.
Marco Jansen, the Player of the Match: Think the guys played really well and executed well. For us, it was just sticking to the plan and bowling our best ball. The assessment was the wicket was giving us a few to work with and we just wanted to keep it simple. He's awesome and he keeps it calm. We will enjoy [the win] and be on it again tomorrow.
