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South Africa captain Aiden Markram stated that his team had not yet played its best cricket after South Africa’s Super Eight victory over the West Indies on Sunday. Afghanistan, however, proceed with caution. Naturally, they are in uncharted ground, even if South Africa has historically faltered at this point. These are the main matches that could affect the result on match day.
The Toss Factor
Afghanistan has won four of its five matches in the T20 World Cup 2024 by batting first.
The opponent brought them in on three of those instances. Australia, New Zealand, and Uganda all chose to pursue. Additionally, Afghanistan decided to bat Tuesday in Kingstown against Bangladesh.
However, in two of their matches where they have won the toss and chosen to bat first, Afghanistan has lost: one against the West Indies.
They only triumphed in one game when fielding first, against Papua New Guinea, which was held in Tarouba, where the semi-final was held.
South Africa has won four times when batting first and three times when chasing, making them the only side in the World Cup without a loss other than India. If South Africa wins the toss and Afghanistan is asked to pursue, don’t be shocked.
Gurbaz-Ibrahim partnership
There isn’t an opening duo in this World Cup who has scored more runs than Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who are first and third in the rankings of the competition’s top scorers. The opening wicket total for all teams is 442 runs at an average of nearly 74, shared by the two 22-year-old buddies from their Under-19 days. The next highest total is 286 runs at an average of 57.20, shared by Jos Buttler and Phil Salt.
Ibrahim normally offers consistency on the other end, while Gurbaz typically delivers the early big hits. However, Gurbaz hobbled out after injuring his left knee while playing Bangladesh. Should he miss out, things could get easier for South Africa. The proteas will have to find ways to nip this alliance in the bud on the off-chance that Gurbaz does keep his place in the side.
The De Kock question
The enforcer and best hitter in South Africa is Quinton de Kock, who excelled in his job as the enforcer against England in their Super Eight match. De Kock, meanwhile, has averaged 21.60 against offspin with a strike rate of 105.88 since 2022. Mohammed Nabi, a senior teammate of Rashid’s, has been asked to bowl during powerplays on multiple occasions. Rashid may use Nabi against de Kock as an advantageous match-up. In T20 cricket, Nabi hasn’t yet defeated de Kock, but he has conceded just 32 runs in 28 deliveries.
By pairing Nabi with Fazalhaq Farooqi, the tournament’s top wicket-taker who also has the most powerplay wickets in all T20s in 2024, Afghanistan will attempt to apply pressure from both ends.
SA’s Rashid problem
In Twenty20 Internationals, the majority of South Africa’s best hitters, including de Kock, Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, and Tristan Stubbs, have failed to dominate Rashid.
Miller and Rashid will engage in a major duel. Miller, who ranks among the top finishers in T20 cricket, is the second-highest run-scorer for South Africa in the competition. Since the beginning of 2022, Miller has been hitting nearly 150 against legspin. Rashid, Miller’s IPL teammate at the Gujarat Titans since 2022, has, nevertheless, held a sizable advantage over him.
Along with Nabi and Noor Ahmad, Rashid will be looking to score runs, as the three bowl most of the middle-overs.
SA’s weapon- Maharaj
When he held Bangladesh to 10 runs off the last over of their encounter in New York, Keshav Maharaj wrote one of the most memorable scenes of this World Cup. Though he was unlucky to escape punishment despite misfiring on the final two balls of the over twice, Maharaj showed bravery and determination by taking two wickets.
The majority of Afghanistan’s batting lineup consists of right-hand hitters, so Maharaj will be excited to bowl against them. Hazratullah Zazai only appeared in one game, against India, and Najibullah Zadran participated in the group stage matches but hasn’t played since the India match.