South Africa advances to a World Cup finals for the first time

Aiden Markram and co defeated Afghanistan in an one sided clash

It was the semi finals stage at Tarouba, between the first time semi finalists Afghanistan and South Africa who have lost all 7 semi finals they were part of till now either in 50 overs World Cup or a 20 overs one.

Marco Jensen, also the man of the match for this match, picked up Gurbaz in his first over and Gulbadin in his next. Rabada joined the party picking up both Zardan and Nabi in the 4th over of the innings. Just 4 overs back Afghanistan was in high hopes of creating history, and a few minutes later the scorecard read 20/4.

Image source: ICC

In the very next over which was the 5th over of this innings, Jensen picked up his 3rd wicket. For a mere score of 23, half of the team was back to the pavilion on a big stage of World Cup semi finals.

If top order couldn’t bear the pressure, how the lower order would. Soon rest of the team followed adding up 33 more runs. Shamsi and Nortje took the last 5 wickets taking 3 and 2 wickets respectively.

Azmatullah was the highest scorer for Afghanistan scoring 10 runs. He was also the only Afgani batsman to reach two figures. 3 Afgani batsman got out on a duck.

Proteas with the loss of just 1 wicket chased down the score in less than 9 overs with Hendricks scoring 29 runs and skipper Markram scoring 23 runs.

Image source: ICC

Lowest ever total in a World Cup knock outs

Today Afganistan’s score was also the lowest ever total in a World Cup knockout match, surpassing West Indies’ score of 101 runs in 2009 T20 semi finals, and Sri Lanka’s score of 101 in 2012 T20 finals.

Afghanistan made the World proud

Still, this World Cup has been the best ever performance by Afghanistan cricket team and their name is now forever etched in history. They knocked out cricketing giant like Australia in the group stage, and made their country proud. People in Afghanistan came out on the streets to celebrate this. This shows how far Afganistan has come, and how cricket is bringing people together in a country that has suffered so much.

Markram Magic?

Aiden Markram becomes the first South African male captain to take the team to a World Cup finals. He also has a 100% win record as a captain in ICC tournaments. He won 6 out of 6 matches in U-19 World Cup in 2014 also leading his team to title. He won 2 out of the 2 matches in ODI World Cup 2023 stepping in for Bavuma. Now in this World Cup he has 8 wins in 8 matches.

Will Markram magic lead South Africa to do something they have never done before? As he said in post match presentation, “We have never been there so we are not scared of it”. Or will one of India or England will come between their dream once again?