South Africa ease to first win

The match officials have been confirmed for the two semifinals at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.

South Africa and Afghanistan face off in the first semifinal in Trinidad on Wednesday June 26, and the on-field umpires for that match will be Richard Illingworth and Nitin Menon.

Richard Kettleborough will be the TV umpire, with Ahsan Raza in place as fourth umpire.

The second semifinal will be between India and England in Guyana on 27 June.

Chris Gaffaney and Rodney Tucker have been appointed as the on-field officials for that match, with Joel Wilson named as the TV umpire and Paul Reiffel as the fourth umpire.

June 26: South Africa v Afghanistan (Trinidad)

Referee: Richie Richardson

On-field Umpires: Richard Illingworth and Nitin Menon

TV Umpire: Richard Kettleborough

Fourth Umpire: Ahsan Raza

June 27: India v England (Guyana)

Referee: Jeffrey Crowe

On-field Umpires: Chris Gaffaney and Rodney Tucker

TV Umpire: Joel Wilson

Fourth Umpire: Paul Reiffel

A first appearance in a Men's World Cup final is on the line when South Africa host Afghanistan in the first semifinal at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.

Afghanistan's progression to the semi-finals of the World Cup is a remarkable achievement for a team who have been on the rise in this format for some time, with New Zealand and Australia the highest-ranked teams knocked out in Afghanistan's wake.

Unbeaten South Africa stand in their way, with the nation hoping it's eighth-time lucky at a men's World Cup semi-final across formats, with a current record of played seven, lost seven.

With a powerful batting line-up that possesses attacking weapons right down to number seven and a bowling attack that has pace and guile aplenty, South Africa will have confidence that 2024 will finally be their year.

The Match Details

South Africa v Afghanistan, Wednesday June 26 (8:30pm local), Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago

The Venue

The Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba is a 15,000-capacity ground that is hosting its fifth and final match of the tournament.

All four previous matches came in Group C during the first group stage, where runs proved reasonably hard to come by. West Indies' 149/9 against New Zealand was the highest total at the venue across the four fixtures.

How They Got Here

South Africa have a perfect record at the tournament, but have been pushed close a number of times across their seven matches.

Netherlands, Bangladesh and Nepal will all feel they could and maybe should have beaten the Proteas during the group stage. before tournament co-hosts USA gave them a bit of a scare at the start of the Super Eights.

Fascinating matches against England and West Indies were both in the balance for long stretches until South Africa came out on top in each.

Such a run is either a sign of a team in winning form or one that is consistently vulnerable, and it is tough to ascertain which is the leading characteristic.

Afghanistan's brilliant win over Australia was key to their progression to the semi-finals, but they've been impressive right the way through the tournament.

Drawn in the toughest of the initial groups, they progressed at the expense of frequent semi-finalists New Zealand. And, after a loss to India, they upset Australia and then made it past a Bangladesh banana skin to make history and seal their first semi-final spot.

The Squads

South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel 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: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Hazratullah Zazai, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.

Team Selections

For South Africa the big decision will be whether to stick with a second front-line spinner in Tabraiz Shamsi, or bring back an additional pace option in Ottneil Baartman, who has played in five matches at this tournament so far.

Afghanistan experimented with adding Hazratullah Zazai as an additional top-order player against India to try and add a bit of solidity in the face of such a high-quality bowling attack.

They could be tempted to do the same again, but potentially with the incoming batter in at No. 3 on this occasion to leave the Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz partnership settled.

The Expert Opinion  ||     from ABDUR RAZZAK    ||

At this moment, I have to say Shakib Al Hasan is the most in-form all-rounder in the world.

He is in very good touch with his bowling and his batting has been brilliant at this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

He made another century in the win over the West Indies, his second of this tournament with two other half-centuries.

He is the number one all-rounder in the ICC rankings as well and he is in tremendous form.

In fact, I have never seen him play like this – the consistency he is showing is incredible. I have played with him many times over the years but this is the best form of his career.

That was a very good win for Bangladesh against the West Indies because they are a very, very good side – they’ve played really good cricket in this World Cup.

For Bangladesh it was a crucial game because if they lost or even it rained, then they wouldn’t have had a great chance to go through to the semi-finals.

It’s really, really important to start quickly, especially in England. If you start well, either bowling or batting, most of the time those teams win – we’ve seen that at this World Cup.

We started well with the ball by getting Chris Gayle out early and that was important.

When West Indies scored 300+, I heard from quite a few people saying ‘Bangladesh will lose this game’. But I told them just wait and see.

I know the ground at Taunton, I’ve played over there, and on a wicket which wasn’t seaming they had a chance. It was a batter’s wicket and at Taunton, 320 isn’t an easy target but it isn’t that hard either.

They started well with the bat and then Shakib and Liton Das did brilliantly to put on that 189-run partnership and see them over the line.

It’s really difficult coming into the team in the middle of this type of tournament, so Liton Das was definitely under pressure.

When a new player comes to play in a big game, in a big tournament, with this type of atmosphere, it is really tough.

It was a pressure moment and he coped very nicely. He showed what he can do as a player and it’s exciting for Bangladeshi cricket.

Bangladesh had confidence from their recent record against the West Indies, which is now eight wins in the last ten ODIs.

They’ve beaten them in the West Indies, in Ireland and in Bangladesh as well. If you keep beating any team consistently then it’s really, really confidence-boosting.

When they were set 320, the boys would have still felt they were going to win the game because they know they can do it against the West Indies.

Importantly, their chances of reaching the semi-finals are still alive. Each and every game is so important because if you lose one now, it will be really difficult to go through.

This one was crucial and the game against Australia at Trent Bridge on Thursday is the same but this confidence will help them and carry over to that clash.

They will believe they can beat anyone because they are playing really good cricket.

Bangladesh reached the quarter-finals at the 2015 World Cup and then the semi-finals at the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 – they’ve done really well at recent big tournaments – but I honestly believe they are playing even better than that at the moment.

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan said that his team has enough ammunition in the batting department to chase down 200-run targets if required and said that the Afghans are no longer overly reliant on their spin attack.

"I think we have that kind of batting line-up where we can say it's fine if there is a target of 200 as well on a wicket. We have that kind of ability and skills and talent that we can express on the ground and chase that," Rashid said a day before their first match in the ICC T20 World Cup, which will be a Group C encounter against Uganda in Guyana.

"T20 cricket is all about the mindset. As long as you have the right mindset and you have the belief that you can do it, anything is possible," he added.

Afghanistan have a top-heavy batting line-up with Rahamanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran opening the innings and have plenty of firepower in the lower middle-order with the experienced Mohammad Nabi and Rashid there to bat as finishers.

The skipper is excited by the young batters in his team and expects them to come good in the mega event.

"In the past, we were struggling a little bit in the batting area. Earlier our bowlers would do a lot more and help us win the games.

"Later, we got those young batters, especially from the Under-19 cricket, and the way they came up to the national side, and the way they have worked hard, they got the opportunity to play for Afghanistan at a very young age and then start exploring all around the world, playing leagues where they got better and better."

South Africa survived an early scare before David Miller guided them to a nervy four-wicket victory over the Netherlands in the Twenty20 World Cup in Long Island, New York on Saturday.

Miller hit an unbeaten 59 off 51 balls as South Africa scored 106 for six in 18.5 overs in reply to the Dutch total of 103 for nine.

It was second successive win for South Africa in Group D and a first defeat for the Dutch after they beat Nepal in Dallas.

The Dutch, put into bat, were immediate pressure from tall opener Marco Jansen and had only scored 35-4 after 10 overs.

They pushed up the run rate towards the end of their innings when Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek shared a 54-run partnership for the seventh wicket before South African-born Engelbrecht fell for 40 in the last over.

Newcomer Ottneil Baartman took three wickets in the last over to finish with figures of 4-11 and Jansen and Anrich Nortje claimed two wickets each.

The Netherlands took a wicket with the first ball of South Africa's innings as hesitant calling led to a mix-up and Quinton de Kock was run out without facing a ball.

That precipitated a sudden panic as Reeza Hendricks was bowled and captain Aiden Markram caught down the leg side as South Africa slumped to 3-3.

Heinrich Klaasen's dismissal in the fifth over had South Africa teetering at 12-4 before Stubbs and Miller set about the modest target with a 65-run partnership.

When Stubbs fell in the 17th over, however, 27 runs were still required for victory but Miller took his side over the line.

South Africa play Bangladesh on Monday and the Dutch face Bangladesh on Thursday.