56 all-out is the lowest total by a team in a T20 World Cup semi-final match
\n Islamabad
\nSouth Africa demolished Afghanistan\u2019s T20 World Cup dream in ruthless fashion on Wednesday, thrashing the minnows by nine wickets with more than 11 overs to spare to reach the final of the cricket showpiece for the first time.
\nLeft-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (3 for 6) and gangling pacer Marco Jansen (3-16) spearheaded the rout of Afghanistan\u2019s brittle batting line-up for just 56 off 11.5 overs after they chose to bat.
\nFast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje maintained the relentless pressure with two wickets apiece at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.
\nOn a surface which encouraged all bowlers but left Afghanistan with too little to defend, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock early in reply for Fazalhaq Farooqi\u2019s tournament-leading 17th wicket.
\nBut Reeza Hendricks (29 not out) and captain Aiden Markram (23 not out) saw them to victory at 60 for one off 8.5 overs to advance the Proteas to Saturday\u2019s final in Barbados where they will face the winners of Thursday\u2019s second semi-final between title-holders England and unbeaten India in Guyana.
\n\u201cWe assessed pretty early that the wicket was giving us something to work with so it was just about sticking to our plans, keeping it simple and getting the results,\u201d Man of the Match Jansen said of South Africa\u2019s bowling display, which effectively ended the match as a contest.
\nOnly Azmatullah Omarzai (10) got into double-figures for the Afghans while their highest contribution to the paltry total was 13 extras in a thoroughly deflating effort following Monday\u2019s pulsating drama when they pipped Bangladesh in St. Vincent to reach the final four.
\nThroughout this dream run to their first semi-final of a senior men\u2019s world tournament Afghanistan have been reliant on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to give them a solid platform and at the same time mask the frailties of the rest of the batting line-up.
\n\u2018A tough night for us\u2019
\nBut when Jansen had Gurbaz taken at slip by Hendricks without scoring in the first over of the match, the worst fears of the Afghans and a growing mass of supporters in the Caribbean were realised as the Proteas mercilessly exploited their opponents\u2019 technical deficiencies.
\n\u201cIt was a tough night for us as a team, but that how it goes in T20s,\u201d said Afghan captain Rashid Khan.
\n\u201cYou need to be mentally ready for any kind of situation. They bowled exceptionally and we just couldn\u2019t bat well.\u201d
\nFor Markram, who led South Africa to the Under-19 men\u2019s title in 2014 in Dubai, it was all about making the most of good luck.
\n\u201cI was fortunate to have lost the toss, I guess, because we also would have batted. But still the bowlers had to get it in the right areas and they did that,\u201d he explained.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not really the captain who gets you to this stage of a competition. It\u2019s a massive squad effort involving those behind the scenes and off the field.\u201d
\nThis will be South Africa\u2019s first senior men\u2019s final since the inaugural Champions Trophy in Bangladesh in 1998 when the side led by Hansie Cronje defeated Brian Lara\u2019s West Indies team in the title match.
\nAfghan skipper Rashid meanwhile said his team would look back on their campaign pride and belief for the future.
\n\u201cWe came here before the tournament and if you told us we would be playing the semi-final against South Africa, we would accept that,\u201d Rashid said. \u201cWe are capable of beating any side.
\n\u201cNext time when we participate in a tournament like this, we will have the belief. It\u2019s about how you manage yourself in those pressure situations against tough teams.
\n\u201cThere is a lot of hard work to be done, especially in the middle order…We have achieved some good results but when we come back in the tournament, we need to do better, especially in the batting department.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
56 all-out is the lowest total by a team in a T20 World Cup semi-final match Islamabad South Africa demolished Afghanistan\u2019s T20 World Cup dream in ruthless fashion on Wednesday, thrashing the minnows by nine wickets with more than 11 overs to spare to reach the final of the cricket showpiece for the first time. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-415046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n