Semi-Final Preview: History beckons for South Africa or Afghanistan in the Caribbean

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

Match Centre and Scorecard

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.