SA win ‘The Best Gentleman’s Game’
In a T20 World Cup game for the ages, South Africa somehow managed to get past a plucky Afghanistan after two wildly oscillating Super Overs here on Wednesday.
Ryan Rickelton (61 off 28) and Quinton de Kock (59 off 41) put together a brilliant century stand with quickfire fifties to power South Africa to 187 for six.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (84 off 42) then singlehandedly kept Afghanistan in the run chase before some lusty hitting from the lower-order helped them tie the game in regulation time.
Lungi Ngidi 3/26 was named Man Of The Match.
What followed was an incredible sequence of two Super Overs with fortunes swinging either way after every ball.
In the first Super Over, Azmatullah Omarzai struck Lungi Ngidi for two fours and a six to help Afghanistan post 17 runs, but Tristan Stubbs hit two sixes off Fazalhaq Farooqi including off the last ball to force another Super Over. Coming in to bat in the second Super Over, Davis Miller and Tristan Stubbs struck three sixes to notch up 23 runs, a steep target which was made to look very gettable by Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The opening batter smashed seasoned left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj for three consecutive sixes before getting out to complete a sensational finish.
In regulation time, the Afghans started aggressively in the run chase before losing the plot but some brilliant hitting from Omarzai, Rashid and Noor Ahmad coupled with a disastrous final over from Kagiso Rabada, in which he gave away two no balls, cost South Africa dearly.
Afghanistan made a bright start to their chase, with Gurbaz (84 off 42; 4x4s, 7x6s) smashing Ngidi for two fours in the opening over.
Gurbaz continued with his attacking approach, ramping Marco Jansen over the slips for aa maximum and then hitting Rabada over the third man fence.
George Linde gave away 17 runs in his opening over as Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran took the attack to the opposition to race to 50 in just four overs.
Brief Scores:
South Africa: 187 for 6 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 59, Ryan Rickelton 61; Azmatullah Omarzai 3/41, Rashid Khan 2/28).
Afghanistan: 187 all out in 19.4 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 84; Lungi Ngidi 3/26).
