South Africa finally broke the semi-final jinx and qualified for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 final by beating Afghanistan in semi-final 1 in Trinidad. South Africa was one of the 12 teams to play the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and never qualified for the finals in their 17-year-long journey.
Since the beginning of the 2024 T20 World Cup, South Africa dominated the tournament by winning all their group, Super 8 matches before entering the semi-final.
The Proteas men continued their momentum and won the semi-final 1 in a low-scoring game in Trinidad and became the first team to qualify for the final of the tournament.
South African bowlers strangled Afghanistan for just 56 in the crucial game with their skilful bowling abilities.
Afghan’s 56 against SA is their lowest T20I total and it is also the second lowest total by a full-member team in T20 WCs. England’s 55 against West Indies in the 2021 T20 World Cup is the lowest in the category.
South Africa who was widely considered “Chokers” in World Cups finally broke the tag and reached new heights in T20 World Cup history.
South Africa in T20 World Cups So far
- 2007 – Super 8s/Super 10s/Super 12s
- 2009 – Semi-Final
- 2010 – Super 8s/Super 10s/Super 12s
- 2012 – Super 8s/Super 10s/Super 12s
- 2014 – Semi-Final
- 2016 – Super 8s/Super 10s/Super 12s
- 2021 – Super 8s/Super 10s/Super 12s
- 2022 – Super 8s/Super 10s/Super 12s
- 2024 – Final
Game. Set. Final Bound. 🇿🇦#ReezaHendricks finishes in style as South Africa extends their unbeaten streak, reaching their first-ever #T20WorldCup final! 👊🏻
Onto #SemiFinal2 NOW 👉 #INDvENG | TODAY, 6 PM | #T20WorldCupOnStar pic.twitter.com/03Zevhmot6
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 27, 2024
In the most crucial game, Rashid Khan decided to bat first after winning the toss. Speaking of the match data, at this venue, this is the first time a team won the toss and opted to bat first in 5 matches this World Cup. In those previous 4 matches, the chasing team won three. The average score batting first is 95 runs in those 4 games.
This will be the maiden T20 World Cup semi-final appearance for Afghanistan while South Africa has never won an ICC World Cup semi-final in the previous seven attempts. The Proteas Men have lost six and tied one game against AUS in 1999 at Edgbaston
The winner of the match will advance to the final while the loser will be knocked out of the tournament. With the dream of winning their maiden T20 World Cup titles, both teams will implement all their skills in order to win this which in turn will qualify them for the grand final.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 final will be played on June 29 in Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. The winners of the semi final 1 and semi final 2 will play the grand FINAL.
Afghan opening batters Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz opened the inning while Marco Jansen opened the bowling attack for South Africa.
In the very first over, Jansen dismissed Gurbaz for duck and sent the tournament’s highest run-getter to the pavilion without making an impact on the scoreboard. Following the early dismissal, Afghanistan was expected to make a comeback but Jansen in the third over struck again and dismissed Gulbadin for 9 runs.
Like adding fuel to the fire, Rabada in the very next over for his part bagged a couple of wickets by dismissing Ibrahim Zadran(2) and Nabi(0). With another wicket in the fifth over, Afghanistan managed to score just 28 runs in the first powerplay after losing five wickets.
This will be the first time a team lost 5 wickets inside the powerplay of a WC semi-final.
Most wickets lost in Power Play in an innings this WC
- 5 – PNG vs AFG, Tarouba
- 5 – UGA vs WI, Providence
- 5 – UGA vs AFG, Providence
- 5 – IRE vs PAK, Lauderhill
- 5 – AFG vs SA, Tarouba
South Africa continued their aggressive attack after the power play by dismissing Azmatullah for 10 in the seventh over bowled by Nortje.
GONE! Azmatullah departs! 👀
Another wicket falls as Afghanistan batters have no answers to South Africa’s seam bowling! 🔥
Is the match completely swinging in South Africa’s favor? 🤔#SemiFinal1 👉 #SAvAFG | LIVE NOW | #T20WorldCupOnStar pic.twitter.com/pl7U4jMsFH
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 27, 2024
With six wickets down before reaching the 30 runs mark, Afghanistan now rely on their captain Rashid Khan to pull them out of this misery. But South African bowlers continued to strangle the Afghan batters and ended their inning for just 56 – which is the lowest T20I total for Afghanistan.
South Africans made a slow start in their low-chasing inning. Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock just scored one run in the first over. Fazalhaq Farooqi who bowled the second over gave a boundary of the first ball and dismissed de Kock for 5 in the same over.
Without much pressure from the Afghan bowlers, South Africa reached the target in 8.5 overs and advanced to the final set to be played on June 29 in Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
