An unconvincing South Africa survived a spirited Afghanistan chase to defend a 200-plus score and get their World Twenty20 campaign back on track. In the absence of Dale Steyn, who was left out for tactical reasons, Chris Morris and Imran Tahir squeezed through the middle period to ensure AB de Villiers' quickfire 64 was not in vain.
Afghanistan's second loss means their chances of progressing to the knockouts are all but over, but they have showed their promise. They kept up with the required run-rate for the first half of their innings and were ahead of where South Africa were at the same stage in their knock, but lost too many wickets to keep going. Afghanistan also did not have a 17th over like South Africa did; de Villiers took 29 runs off Rashid Khan, which ended up being the major difference between the two sides.
In the end, South Africa will be relieved that they were able to defend their total, but disappointed that the margin of victory was not bigger. They tightened up on their discipline in the field but still gave away more extras than their opposition - six wides compared to two from Afghanistan - and did not show the kind of killer instinct that they will need later in the tournament.
They also suffered an injury concern. JP Duminy left the field four balls into Afghanistan's chase with a hamstring strain and was unable to take any further part in the match. Duminy has only just found form again and his availability will be important for the rest of the World T20.
As the same venue where they posted 229 batting first on Friday night, South Africa chose to set a target again. Quinton de Kock picked up from where he left off two days ago and dominated the opening passages of play. De Kock faced all but one delivery in the first two overs and found the boundary five times. Hashim Amla may have wanted to catch up but after one four, gifted a catch to Asghar Stanikzai at mid-off.
South Africa held de Villiers back and sent in Faf du Plessis at No.3. The strategy worked. Du Plessis took on the spin from Mohammad Nabi while de Kock continued to attack in the Powerplay. South Africa finished it on 66 for 1 and 60 of those runs came in boundaries.
When the fielding restrictions were lifted, Rashid put the brakes on with the first boundary-less over of the innings, but du Plessis did not want things to slow down too much. He picked up the pace before being run-out and de Villiers was soon at the crease.
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Afghanistan's second loss means their chances of progressing to the knockouts are all but over, but they have showed their promise. They kept up with the required run-rate for the first half of their innings and were ahead of where South Africa were at the same stage in their knock, but lost too many wickets to keep going. Afghanistan also did not have a 17th over like South Africa did; de Villiers took 29 runs off Rashid Khan, which ended up being the major difference between the two sides.
In the end, South Africa will be relieved that they were able to defend their total, but disappointed that the margin of victory was not bigger. They tightened up on their discipline in the field but still gave away more extras than their opposition - six wides compared to two from Afghanistan - and did not show the kind of killer instinct that they will need later in the tournament.
They also suffered an injury concern. JP Duminy left the field four balls into Afghanistan's chase with a hamstring strain and was unable to take any further part in the match. Duminy has only just found form again and his availability will be important for the rest of the World T20.
As the same venue where they posted 229 batting first on Friday night, South Africa chose to set a target again. Quinton de Kock picked up from where he left off two days ago and dominated the opening passages of play. De Kock faced all but one delivery in the first two overs and found the boundary five times. Hashim Amla may have wanted to catch up but after one four, gifted a catch to Asghar Stanikzai at mid-off.
South Africa held de Villiers back and sent in Faf du Plessis at No.3. The strategy worked. Du Plessis took on the spin from Mohammad Nabi while de Kock continued to attack in the Powerplay. South Africa finished it on 66 for 1 and 60 of those runs came in boundaries.
When the fielding restrictions were lifted, Rashid put the brakes on with the first boundary-less over of the innings, but du Plessis did not want things to slow down too much. He picked up the pace before being run-out and de Villiers was soon at the crease.
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