AFG Vs RSA, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Afghanistan's Sensational Campaign Ends With Defeat Against South Africa - As It Happened

The spirited Afghans gave it all they had, and caused a few stutters along the way for South Africa. But the Proteas held their nerve and Rassie van der Dussen (76 off 95 balls) took them home along with Andile Phehlukwayo (39 off 37), who hit a few lusty blows towards the end. Afghanistan put a respectable total of 244 runs on the board, thanks to Azmatullah Omarzai's unbeaten 97. But despite the fall of a few wickets in the middle overs, South Africa chased down the target of 245 with five wickets and 15 balls to spare. With that, the Temba Bavuma-led side head to the semi-finals of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 with 14 points (seven wins) in the league stage. As for the Afghans, this is the end of the road as they finish with an insufficient eight points (four wins). Catch all the highlights from the AFG vs RSA game in Ahmedabad on Friday, November 10. Follow here for all the updates! (Scorecard | Streaming | Key Battles | Full Coverage) 

10:15 PM: Good Bye!
The knockout stage for both Proteas and Afghans have come to an end. We have a double-header tomorrow, watch out for that!

10:07 PM: Captain Speak (Post-Match)

Bavuma: "My leg is sore, don;t know to what extent, it's gonna have to be fine. I had that option of coming off. I wanted to be out there with the guys. Opportunity for me to spend some time out in the middle. That's what I felt was right at that moment. Winning is a habit, we want to take that momentum through. We batted second and to get over the line in that matter, that's going to put a lot of confidence. Fantastic knock by Rassie who took ownership of the innings and guys batted around him. The wicket got better."

Shahidi: "As a captain I am quite happy with our performance. We fought till the last moment in each and every game. Good learnings for us in the future. Proud of the way our batters performed in this tournament. We were struggling before this tournament. We sat together and talked about the weak point, so at the end, you saw the result how our batsmen did. That's a positive thing, looking forward to the future. Everyone knows that we have good spin department. If we go with the same momentum, we'll be a very good side. We gave a good message to the world in this tournament. We played big teams and we fought till the last moment. Australian game, it was in our hands, but it was shocking for us."

9:52 PM: RSA - 247/5; Overs 41-50 Highlights

Rassie van der Dussen played an excellent innings of 76 runs that led South Africa to win the match. He shot beautiful boundaries and a maximum. Afghan bowlers failed to take wickets in this phase, which proved fatal for them.

9:15 PM: RSA - 192/5; Overs 31-40 Highlights

Afghan bowlers dominated in this phase, they picked up a wicket of David Miller (24) by giving just 47 runs in this phase. In the last 10 overs, Proteas will be looking forward to chase down the target.

8:33 PM: RSA - 145/4; Overs 21-30 Highlights

Rashid Khan took two quick wickets of Aiden Markram (25) and Heinrich Klaasen (10) in this phase as Afghanistan looked to make inroads. South Africa brought their 100 runs in the 21st over.

7:55 PM: RSA - 99/2; Overs 11-20 Highlights

This phase started off poorly for the Proteas as they lost both their openers, Quinton de Kock (41) and Temba Bavuma (23) after a solid start. Afghan bowlers struck and sent both the openers back to the hut. Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram were at the crease to seize the initiative for the Proteas as they eye a chase of 245.

7:17 PM: RSA - 57/0; Overs 1-10 Highlights

Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma started positively for the Proteas. Their strong start set the base for the Proteas to chase down the target of 245. Afghan bowlers struggled to get an initial breakthrough as Azmatullah conceded 8 runs off his 1st over. Quinton de Kock survived a run-out scare but South Africa reached fifty in the tenth over.

6:30 PM: RSA Begin The Run-chase

Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma to open for South Africa. Mujeeb Ur Rahman to go first over for Afghans.

6:25 PM: Innings Highlights

Azmatullah Omarzai hit a gritty unbeaten 97 as Afghanistan posted a challenging 244 all out in 50 overs against South Africa in their last league match of the World Cup on Friday. The South African bowlers clearly dominated the proceedings with Gerald Coetzee grabbing four wickets for 44 runs. Lungi Ngidi (2/69) and spinner Keshav Maharaj (2/25) took two wickets each. The opening pair of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran had earlier given Afghanistan a decent start with a 41-run partnership. However, Gerald Coetzee (4/44) shone with the ball as he was well supported by Lungi Ngidi (2/69) and Keshav Maharaj (2/25) as Afghanistan's run-flow was pegged back. Proteas are already through the semi-final however Afghanistan's chances have been ended officially. 

6:01 PM: AFG - 244/10; Overs 41-50 Highlights

Azmatullah Omarzai fell three short of what could have been a brilliant century as his exceptional innings steered Afghanistan towards 244 in 50 overs. Despite wickets falling at the other end, Omarzai kept chipping away and put the bad balls away to give some parity to the Afghan scoreboard after a bad start. For the Proteas, Gerald Coetzee scalped four wickets whereas Keshav Maharaj scalped two wickets.

5:15 PM: AFG - 173/7; Overs 31-40 Highlights

Azmatullah Omarzai kept the innings going, despite the flurry of wickets at the other end. Rashid Khan (14) was dismissed by Andile Phehlukwayo just as he was looking to steady the ship. It was a huge blow to the Afghanistan side who were eyeing a recovery after being in a dismal position early on.

4:30 PM: AFG - 134/6; Overs 21-30 Highlights

Proteas took wickets at regular intervals as Afghan batters struggled to find their feet. Rahmat Shah (26), Ikram Alikhil (12), and Mohammad Nabi (2) were dismissed before they could steady the Afghani ship. South African bowlers have so far dominated the game with their tight bowling. But Azmat Omarzai continued to find the boundaries for his team.

3:33 PM: AFG - 78/3; Overs 11-20 Highlights

Afghanistan lost the wicket of their captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (2) to Keshav Maharaj. Maharaj's delivery was a fraction short and outside off. The Afghanistan skipper thought it was there for the cut and went for it, but he managed to edge it and de Kock did the rest behind the stumps. Afghans managed just one four and one six during the entire phase of play.

3:00 PM: AFG - 41/2; Overs 6-10 Highlights

Afghan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (25) and Ibrahim Zadran (15) were knocked out by Keshav Maharaj and Gerald Coetzee respectively. The last two overs of their dismissal were maiden overs, which created pressure on the batters and led to their dismissals. Afghanistan played 65 dot balls of the 90 balls they have faced.

2:23 PM: AFG - 24/0; Overs 1-5 Highlights

Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz started the innings carefully with some watchful shots. They hit a few boundaries and a six. Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi bowled tight lines and lengths to curb the run flow. South African bowlers could not get a breakthrough despite some decent overs.

2:00 PM: Action Begins!

Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz to open for Afghanistan. Kagiso Rabada to bowl first over.

1:54 PM: Action To Begin Soon
Players from both sets of teams make their way out for their respective National Anthems.

1:37 PM: Captain Speak:
RSA Skipper Temba Bavuma: We have another chance to chase today and we want to do well. A strong Indian side put us under pressure with bat and ball. Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen have been rested today and Andile Phehlukwayo and Gerald Coetzee come into the side. I feel that it might skid on later. It might be a little slow to start with and there also might be a bit of dew in the evening.

AFG Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi: We want to bat first. The surface looks like there will be spin in the second innings so we are batting first. We are unchanged. It was a tough game for us. Today, it is an important game of the world cup for us.

1:36 PM: Playing XIs
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Andile Phehlukwayo, David Miller, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi

1:09 PM: Pitch Conditions
Expect a dry pitch where a total of 280 would be a match-winning one. Team winning the toss, would expect to bat first and make the bowling team toil in the hot conditions.

12:45 PM: Weather Conditions
Expect a hot day in Ahmedabad with the maximum temperature reaching 35°c. With evenings turning cooler, expect the ball to swing a bit under lights.

12:40 PM: Head-to-head
South Africa and Afghanistan have faced each other in one game in ODIs that too the Proteas emerging victorious.

12:30 PM: Preview
India arrested South Africa's sensational run with a 300+ runs victory in their previous match. South Africa, having already qualified for the semi-finals, will aim to bounce back quickly, and regain the momentum they lost in the embarassing defeat against the hosts. Another win against Afghanistan will help the Proteas finish second in the league stage. 

Afghanistan thought they had taken a huge step toward the knockout in their previous match against Australia, only to find the mammoth figure of Glenn Maxwell blocking their way forward. The semi-final failed to capture the experienced batter and paid heavily for it. Nothing but a massive win will do for Afghanistan - and even that might not be enough!

Hello and welcome to South Africa vs Afghanistan, Match 42, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Match Blog. All but assured of finishing second or third in the league stage, South Africa take on Afghanistan, cautious not to let the momentum they have built so far escape on the eve of the semi-finals. Afghanistan, meanwhile, suffered a devastating blow to their knockout hopes last time around, when a bruised and battered Glenn Maxwell snatched victory for Australia from the jaws of defeat. Nothing short of a miracle will take Afghanistan to the next round hereon.

Squads
South Africa 
Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.

Afghanistan 
Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.