Fazalhaq Farooqi removed Quinton de Kock (5 off 8) early in the innings, but South Africa easily over the finish line with to the efforts of captain Aiden Markram (23 off 21) and opener Reeza Hendricks (29 off 25).
Afghanistan had earlier chosen to bat against South Africa after winning the toss.
After a brilliant bowling performance by the Proteas, Afghanistan was knocked out for just 56 runs in 11.5 overs while batting first.
Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje each took two wickets, while Marco Jansen and Tabrazi Shamsi got three wickets apiece.
Azmatullah Omarzai was the only player to reach double figures in a poor batting performance with 10 runs.
Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz were all sent out for a duck.
The lowest total scored by a team in a T20 World Cup semifinal is 56 all-out. Afghanistan’s T20I total is also the lowest to date.
In men’s T20Is, this is also the lowest total ever in a knockout game. The previous low was 62 all-out against Uganda in the 2023 ACA Cup semifinals for Botswana.
Lowest totals by a team in T20 World Cups
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 lineup for this match.
