South Africa prevailed over Afghanistan by nine wickets in the first semi-final on Thursday at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad, during the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024.
This marks the first time that South Africa, who remain unbeaten in the tournament, have qualified for the final of a World Cup (T20 and ODI)
The only other time the South African men's team reached the final of an ICC event was in 1998, when the Proteas won the inaugural ICC Knockout Trophy at Dhaka.
South Africa's modest target of 57 runs was achieved in 8.5 overs, with the loss of one wicket.
Quinton de Kock (5 off 8) was dismissed early by Fazalhaq Farooqi, but captain Aiden Markram (23 off 21) and opener Reeza Hendricks (29 off 25) ensured that South Africa reached the line comfortably.
Earlier, Afghanistan won the toss and opted to field against South Africa.
Afghanistan batted first, but were bowled out for only 56 runs in 11.5 overs after a superb bowling display by the Proteas.
Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi took three wickets each, while Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje claimed two apiece.
In a regrettable batting performance, Azmatullah Omarzai was the sole player to achieve double figures, scoring 10 runs.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Nabi, and Noor Ahmad were all dismissed for a duck.
56 all-out is the lowest total by a team in a T20 World Cup semi-final match in a T20 World Cup match. This is Afghanistan's lowest total in T20 Internationals.
This is also the lowest total ever recorded in a knockout match in the men's T20 Internationals. Previous lowest was Botswana's 62 all-out vs Uganda in 2023 ACA Cup semis.
The lowest total by a full-member team at the T20 World Cup:
55: ENG vs WI, Dubai, 2021
56: AFG vs SA, Tarouba, 2024*
60: NZ vs SL, Chattogram, 2014
70: BAN vs NZ, Kolkata, 2016
"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. We will enjoy [the win] and be on it again tomorrow," Marco Jansen said after bagging the Player of the Match award.
Both teams made no changes to their line-up for this match.
Teams
South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Nangeyalia Kharote, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
