Sixteen teams began the tournament and only four remain as South Africa and Afghanistan prepare to do battle in the first semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup on Thursday morning.
The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium will host this matchup between the Proteas and Blue Tigers, and the winner will move on to the grand final where they will face either India or England.
Match preview
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Safe to say, South Africa are no strangers to heartbreak, having bowed out in the semi-final of World Cup events seven consecutive times in the past, and hoping it will be eighth-time lucky.
However, given the teams remaining in the competition, the Proteas will likely feel that they have got about the best fixture they could have hoped for, and will have a genuine belief that the stars are aligned for them this year.
South Africa booked their spot in the last four by beating the West Indies by three wickets via the DLS method in their final Super Eight match, even though none of their batsmen managed more than 30 runs in the chase.
Still, Aiden Markram's side are the only ones to have played and won all seven of their matches up to this point, and while there is a case to be made that they have not been as convincing as India, winning by an inch or a mile counts for the same thing in World Cup knockout matches.
The Proteas have only faced this opponent twice in the shortest format of the game, both times at the T20 World Cup (2010 and 2016), and won on both occasions, which will give them a significant psychological advantage heading into this contest.
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Meanwhile, Afghanistan's ride to the semi-final is a remarkable achievement and underlines the progress made by the nation in recent years despite being ranked 10th in the world according to the ICC T20 Rankings.
During the group stage, the Blue Tigers held off New Zealand to progress alongside the West Indies to the Super Eight, where they pulled off a remarkable 21-run victory over Australia in game two, which ultimately knocked the Baggy Greens out of the competition.
The final match of the second phase saw Afghanistan overcome neighbouring Bangladesh by eight runs via the DLS method, earning them their first-ever semi-final berth in a World Cup tournament.
Against the Tigers, captain Rashid Khan emerged as the standout performer, scoring a quickfire 19* in the dying overs before leading the bowling attack with a tournament-best 4/23, while Naveen-ul-Haq also bagged 4-fer in 3.5 overs.
While they enter this match as the clear underdogs at the books, Afghanistan seem to relish being considered outsiders, and with players leading the standings with both bat and ball in the competition, a victory for them would not come as a complete shock.
Team News
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Anrich Nortje had a fairly poor outing against the Windies, dropping a dolly in the field while he was also the only South African bowler to end the match without picking up a wicket.
That could be enough to prompt Markram, who took the new ball responsibilities upon himself in the match, to recall Ottniel Baartman for this match, while retaining Tabraiz Shamsi as the second spinner after his impressive 3/27 last time out.
One player who will be remembered long after the conclusion of this tournament by Afghanistan fans is Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is the current leading run-scorer in the competition with 281 runs in seven innings.
Ibrahim Zadran is third on that list and one of only five players to have crossed 200 runs in the tournament, while Fazalhaq Farooqi leads the leading wicket-taker standings with 16, one ahead of India's Arshdeep Singh.
South Africa squad: Aiden Markram (c), Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs
Afghanistan squad: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik
Series so far
South Africa
Match One: South Africa won by 6 wickets
Sri Lanka 77 (19.1)
South Africa - 80/4 (16.2)
Match Two: South Africa won by 4 wickets
Netherlands - 103/9 (20)
South Africa - 106/6 (18.5)
Match Three: South Africa won by 4 runs
South Africa - 113/6 (20)
Bangladesh - 109/7 (20)
Match Four: South Africa won by 1 run
South Africa - 115/7 (20)
Nepal - 114/7 (20)
Match Five: South Africa won by 18 runs
South Africa: 194/4 (20)
USA - 176/6 (20)
Match Six: South Africa won by 7 runs
South Africa - 163/6 (20)
England - 156/6 (20)
Match Seven: South Africa won by 3 wickets (DLS method)
West Indies - 135/8 (20)
South Africa 124/7 (16.1)
Afghanistan
Match One: Afghanistan won by 125 runs
Afghanistan - 183/5 (20)
Uganda - 58 (16)
Match Two: Afghanistan won by 84 runs
Afghanistan - 159/6 (20)
New Zealand - 75 (15.2)
Match Three: Afghanistan won by 7 wickets
Papua New Guinea - 95 (19.5)
Afghanistan - 101/3 (15.1)
Match Four: Afghanistan lost by 104 runs
West Indies - 218/5 (20)
Afghanistan - 114 (16.2)
Match Five: Afghanistan lost by 47 runs
India - 181/8 (20)
Afghanistan - 134 (20)
Match Six: Afghanistan won by 21 runs
Afghanistan - 148/6 (20)
Australia - 127 (19.2)
Match Seven: Afghanistan won by 8 runs (DLS method)
Afghanistan - 115/5 (20)
Bangladesh - 105 (17.5)
We say: South Africa to win
Regardless of the outcome of this match, Afghanistan have been a joy to behold in this competition and there is no doubt we will see them in the latter stages of world tournaments more regularly in the future.
However, despite not being at their absolute best, South Africa's unbeaten record is difficult to overlook and we feel the Proteas will be able to shed their semi-final curse by finally reaching a World Cup final this year.
Devesh Jaganath
