Afghanistan create unwanted record; Jansen, Shamsi star with three-fers
South Africa tamed Afghanistan in Tarouba to reach their first-ever ICC T20 World Cup final. The Afghans perished for 56, now the lowest total by a side in T20 World Cup semi-finals. This was also Afghanistan's lowest total in T20I cricket. Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi took three wickets each as the Proteas scripted history. The former recorded his career-best T20I bowling returns.
SA claim nine-wicket win after bowling out Afghanistan
SA were all over Afghanistan after the latter elected to bat. Jansen and Kagiso Rabada struck in quick succession, reducing the Afghans to 23/5 inside the Powerplay. Anrich Nortje and Shamsi joined the party, having cleaned up the tail. Afghanistan perished for a mere 56 (11.5 overs). In response, SA were perturbed by variable bounce, but Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram got them home.
Lowest total in T20 WC semi-finals
As mentioned, Afghanistan's 56 is the lowest-ever total by a side in a T20 World Cup semi-final. This is also the second-lowest total by a full-member team in T20 World Cups. Notably, Afghanistan recorded their first-ever sub-70 total in T20I cricket. No other side has registered a total of less than 75 runs against South Africa in the shortest format.
Jansen, Shamsi record three-fers
The Proteas bowlers thwarted Afghanistan in the big semi-final. Jansen and Rabada blew up their top order in no time. Nortje and Shamsi didn't let the Afghan batters settle thereafter. While Jansen (3/16 in three) and Shamsi (3/6 in 1.5) took six wickets between them, Rabada (2/14 in three) and Nortje (2/7 in three) shared four wickets. Notbaly, Rabada bowled a double-wicket maiden.
Career-best T20I returns for Jansen
Shamsi has now raced to 89 wickets from 69 T20Is. The left-arm wrist-spinner averages an incredible 20.60 in the format. He owns 23 scalps in just 11 T20 World Cup matches at 12.13. On the other hand, Jansen has raced past 10 wickets in the shortest format. His 3/16 against Afghanistan are now his best bowling figures in T20Is.
