Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan won the toss and decided to bat first against South Africa on Thursday (June 27) in the first semi-final of ICC T20 World Cup 2024. (Match Blog | Streaming | Scorecard)
The match is being played at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad, West Indies. The second semi-final will feature India against England on Thursday evening.
The big news from the Afghan camp is that wicketkeeper-opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who was injured during the game against Bangladesh, has recovered and will play today's match.
Explaining why he chose to bat, Rashid said: "It's a fresh wicket and we would like to have a good total on the board."
He added: "The middle-order hasn't got much time in the middle, they have to come out in the 15-16th over and it's not easy. It's good that the top-order has taken responsibility and they have batted very well. When you have a 4-hour delay flight, it's not easy. Doesn't matter if you sleep 1 hour, you have to be at your best. We are going with the same lineup."
His opposing number Aiden Markram said: "We would have probably batted first as well but it's a fresh wicket. We haven't nailed it quite with the bat yet, conditions have been tough. Hopefully, we will do well with the bat and ball and step up in the semi-final. Same team for us."
Playing XIs
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Nangeyalia Kharote, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.
Afghanistan are playing their maiden World Cup semi-finals after knocking Australia out of the competition with a thrilling win over Bangladesh in the Super Eights.
As for South Africa, they are on a seven-match winning streak after several come-from-behind victories in the group stage as well as Super 8s. There's history to be made today, as whoever wins will be entering a World Cup final for the first time.
