New Delhi: The South African cricket team will be taking the field against the Afghanistan cricket team on Friday, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The match is almost a dead rubber, as even though Afghanistan are still mathematically in contention to finish in the final four, practically, they are done and dusted.
If Afghanistan wants to qualify for the semifinals. They have to beat South Africa by 438 runs while bowling second and will be automatically eliminated if South Africa bats first. (www.genusinnovation.com)
On the other hand, this will be a great practice match for already qualified South Africa against the team who almost beat their semifinal opponents, before Glenn Maxwell stole the show with his heroics.
After a heartbreak in their last game, #Afghanistan have their last shot at qualification when they face #SouthAfrica in a do or die game.
Will 🇦🇫 find a way to make it through?
Tune-in to #SAvAFG in #WorldCupOnStar
Today, 12:30 PM | Star Sports Network#CWC23 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/wuLkTa0AlG— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) November 10, 2023
Journey so far
Both teams started their journey on the polar opposite side, as South Africa won their first two matches, before suffering an upset in their third match. Afghanistan lost their first two games before pulling off an upset in their third match.
South African team started their campaign by winning two back-to-back matches against Sri Lanka and Australia by 102 and 134 runs, respectively, before suffering their first loss of the tournament from the Netherlands by 38 runs.
However, the Proteas made a quick comeback and won four matches in a row against England, Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand by 229 runs, 149 runs, 1 wicket and 190 runs, respectively, becoming the second team after India to officially qualify for the final four spots.
Eyes on the prize 👀
An EPIC duel with Afghanistan awaits 🇿🇦🇦🇫
🏟Narendra Modi Stadium
🕐 10:30
📺 SuperSport Cricket( Ch 212) & SABC 3 #CWC23 #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/aP4zWdSDlB— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) November 9, 2023
South Africa lost their last game against the table toppers India by a huge margin of 243 runs, and will now be desperate to register a win against Afghanistan to have some much-needed momentum heading into the semifinal match against Australia in Kolkata.
The Afghanistan cricket team, are having a Cinderella run in the World Cup, and only if Mujeeb had held on to that catch of Maxwell, they could very well be in the semifinals, with a win against Proteas in their final match, but, as it stands the final match is just a formality for them.
AfghanAtalan have hit the ground running this evening in Ahmedabad as they gear up for tomorrow’s clash against South Africa. 👍#AfghanAtalan | #CWC23 | #AFGvSA | #WarzaMaidanGata pic.twitter.com/yLTj6mNHME
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) November 9, 2023
Afghanistan started their journey after back-to-back losses against Bangladesh and India by 6 and 8 wickets, respectively, but they proved that they could go toe to toe with the cricket powerhouses as they went on to win 4 of their next 5 matches, and if they could have beaten Australia on Tuesday, they would have qualified for the semifinals of the World Cup for the first time ever.
Head-to-head records
South Africa and Afghanistan have faced each other in just one ODI match before this, where the Proteas made the quick work out of the Afghani team by beating them with 9 wickets in the 2019 World Cup.
Top Performers
South Africa
Batsman: Quinton de Kock- 550 runs
Bowler: Marco Jansen- 17 wickets
Afghanistan
