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Afghanistan scored 244 runs after 50 overs in the SA vs. AFG match thanks to a fantastic 97-run innings from Azmatullah Omarzai. The hitter made a significant contribution to his team even though he was only three runs shy of a century. Gerald Coetzee, a pacer from South Africa, claimed four wickets to restrict the Afghan batsmen.
Azamatullah Omarzai, an Afghanistan batsman, hammered his fifty while the team continues to lose wickets, trailing by seven wickets at 160. Afghanistan is aiming to score approximately 250 runs, with Noor Ahmad and Azmatullah Omarzai the two batters on the crease. The opening batsmen for Afghanistan got off to a cautious start but lost all of their wickets in the first ten overs.
While South African pacer Gerald Coetzee removed Ibrahim Zadran, spinner Keshav Maharaj dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
The ICC World Cup 2023 hopes are probably not going to be significantly impacted by the SA vs. AFG match. The Proteas have won six of their past eight games, placing them second on the points table. If Australia wins their next game and they lose today, they will lose their second place and fall to third. However, that won't matter because Australia and South Africa will still face off in the semi-final in Kolkata.
Afghanistan must have had high hopes until last night, when New Zealand destroyed Sri Lanka by 5 wickets and witnessed a huge rise in their net run rate (NRR). Afghanistan will play India in the semi-finals after defeating the heavyweights of Africa by 438 runs to go past the Kiwis. Though theoretically still possible, the likelihood of that happening is low.
Live score updates for South Africa vs. Afghanistan: Important highlights
1. Hashmatullah Shahidi, the captain of Afghanistan, won the toss and decided to bat first
2. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, the openers for Afghanistan, started the team's innings.
3. The South African pace attack was initiated by Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.
4. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the opening batsman for Afghanistan, was dismissed by Keshav Maharaj with his first ball.
5. Gerlad Coetzee takes two wickets in a row for South Africa after dismissing Ibrahim Zadran.
6. Spinner Keshav Maharaj secured another wicket when he eliminated Hashmatullah Shahidi of Afghanistan.
7. Lungi Ngidi's dismissal of Rahmat Shah gave South Africa yet another victory.
8. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, outside off, a good length. Gurbaz catches Bavuma as she shakily pulls back and rocks.
9. Mujeeb made a quick, whirling delivery. Temba Bavuma pulls it, but is caught close to deep midwicket after failing to clear the long square boundaries.
10. Markram pushes outside the bounds and forward, but Naveen-ul-Haq catches him.
11. Delivering a pitch outside off stump with good length. When Klaasen tries a cut on the back foot but fails to make contact, the ball slips through and Klaasen is bowled.
12. A shortened legbreak executed by Rahmat. In order to score his 14th ODI fifty, Van der Dussen squarely sweeps him behind on the on-side for a four.
13. Miller veers off course and drives badly, allowing Mohammad Nabi to catch him.
A triumphant sprint for South Africa; by no means methodical. The openers gave them a strong start, scoring 57/0 in the first powerplay, while chasing a modest target. They were both fired in quick succession. Markram and Rassie van der Dussen stitched a fifty partnership and appeared to be at ease. In the same spell, Rashid broke the stand and eliminated the threat posed by Klaasen. However, their pressure was not as great as that of the other spinners. South Africa required more than sixty runs even after Nabi removed Miller. After a shaky start against the spinners, Phehlukwayo hit boundaries for fun against Naveen-ul-Haq to wrap up the match with 15 balls remaining. Rassie remained composed at one end. Afghanistan had chosen to bat and had earlier in the day been reduced to 116/6, but Azmatullah Omarzai, 23, batted brilliantly to ensure that his team reached a respectable total. Unfortunately for Afghanistan, that was insufficient because in the second innings, making strokes became comparatively easier. For the victory, they made South Africa work hard. Attend the presentations in person.
Rassie van der Dussen | Most Valuable Player: Even if we had bowled first, we would still have pursued. We wanted to put ourselves in a challenging situation because we knew they had a strong bowling attack. We're pleased with how the run-chase went, though there are one or two things we can improve. Someone must take on the role of the anchor in any chase. Quinny and Temba provided us with a strong platform, which made it easy for me, and we had a lovely one. We had some strong middle partnerships, and I'm glad we were able to cross the finish line tonight. I'm happy to play that role. It's funny when you perform one thing really well and another poorly, and people say you're not doing that well. We wanted to put ourselves in a challenging situation and continue testing ourselves because we were about halfway there in terms of chasing. This was our plan going into the semi-final, and it was successful. We have learned a great deal from the previous two games. Kolkata was much lower and much drier. We are aware of what to anticipate before the semifinal. Hopefully we can deliver a similar show if we return to this location.
Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi: I'm pleased with our performance. In every game, we battled until the very end. useful lessons for us going forward. We are pleased with the way our hitters performed in this competition. Before this tournament, we were having trouble. We discussed the weak point as a group over dinner, and as a result, you saw how well our batsmen performed. Everyone is aware of our strong spin department. We will be a very strong side if we continue with the same momentum. With this tournament, we sent a positive message to everyone. We battled until the very end when playing against large teams. We had the Australian game in our possession, but it shocked us.
Temba Bavuma: I'm not sure how much my leg hurts, but it should be alright. I could have turned around. I yearned to spend time outdoors with the guys. A chance for me to hang out in the middle for a while. Since winning is a habit, we want to maintain it. We batted second, and crossing the boundary in that fashion will instill a great deal of confidence. Amazing hit by Rassie, who took charge of the inning and had players batting around him. The wicket improved. We'll accept the victory, along with the assurance and impetus it brings. We hope to be performing here once more. Australia is a significant obstacle that we must first overcome in Kolkata.
Two nervous victories while chasing, two losses while chasing, and five convincing wins while batting first. Thus far, South Africa's campaign has been like that. They will play Australia, the five-time champions, in the knockout stages. Can they end the curse and advance to their very first World Cup final? Afghanistan, however, will have to make do with sixth place. Despite winning just one World Cup in their previous two attempts, they have triumphed in four of the current edition's games, three of which have come against WC-winning teams. They battled valiantly against the Proteas and were very close to defeating the Aussies. As their campaign draws to a close, Shahidi and company can continue to hold their heads high. It's time to draw the curtains on that note. Watch the doubleheader tomorrow. Till then, farewell...
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