South Africa storm into ICC T20 World Cup final

South Africa have finally done it as they qualify of the final of the ICC T20 World Cup for the first time after thrashing Afghanistan by nine wickets at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad.

The Proteas produced a master-class bowling effort by bowling out an in-form Afghanistan to just 56 in 11.5 overs.

Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi lead the attack by claiming three wickets each, while Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje managed to bagged two apiece.

Azmatullah Omarzai was the sole player in the Afghanistan batting line up to achieve double figures, he scored 10.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Nabi, and Noor Ahmad were all dismissed for a duck.

In reply, captain Aiden Markram scored 23 not out from 21 deliveries, while Reeza Hendricks stuck an unbeaten 29 off 25 balls to guide the side to their first-ever T20 World Cup final.

The modest target of 57 runs was achieved in 8.5 overs, with the loss of one wicket. Quinton de Kock (5 off 8) was dismissed early by Fazalhaq Farooqi.

The only other time the South African men’s team reached the final of an ICC event was in 1998, when the Proteas won the inaugural ICC Knockout Trophy at Dhaka.