Proteas' last-ball heroics seal dramatic double Super Over T20 World Cup win over Afghanistan

The Proteas and T20 World Cup drama has been elevated to an entirely new stratospheric level. 

A thrilling contest which nobody wanted to lose - or win for that matter - was eventually decided off the very final delivery of the second Super Over in favour of Aiden Markram’s men.

There were so many heroes and villains on both sides, but ultimately it was Keshav Maharaj that held his nerve in the clutch moment to dismiss Rahmanullah Gurbaz off the last ball. Maharaj was under all sorts of pressure with Gurbaz striking three consecutive sixes to set up the finale where another six would seal victory for the Afghans. 

Maharaj initially buckled by delivering a wide, but stuck to his plan with a wide delivery outside the off stump that Gurbaz squeezed to David Miller for his second catch in the over. 

Miller had also delivered in the crunch moment when he smashed two sixes to go with Tristan Stubbs’ maximum off the first delivery to set Afghanistan a mammoth 24 in the second Super Over that was ultimately just enough.

Stubbs too had played a pivotal part in the result as he had forced the game into a second Super Over when he belted Fazalhaq Farooqi for a six off the final delivery to tie up the game again after Lungi Ngidi had earlier conceded 17 runs in the first Super Over. 

Ngidi was the Proteas’ most consistent and disciplined bowler during Afghanistan’s regular innings, but whereas before his slower balls were caught inches inside the boundary earlier, they were now evading the Proteas fielders by the barest of margins with Azmatullah Omarzai smashing a six and two boundaries.

But all of this high-drama could have been avoided, but for Kagiso Rabada delivering a last over of nightmare proportions in the actual game. The Proteas seamer’s habitual no-ball problem came back to haunt him when it mattered most with Rabada sending down two in the final over with Afghanistan requiring 11 runs off the final over. 

The first was suicidal with Rabada with over-stepping the very first delivery. Noor Ahmad sliced the ball to Aiden Markram at cover, but instead of the Proteas celebrating the victory, they looked on in disbelief when they heard the siren to signal the no-ball. 

The remainder of the over was chaos with Rabada following it up a wide before Noor Ahmad crashed Rabada over the square-leg boundary for six off the second legal delivery. A dot ball followed before Rabada committed treason by over-stepping again, and with the batters scampering through for a further two runs, meant Afghanistan needed three runs off two balls. 

But the drama was not over yet with Afghanistan’s last-man run out trying to scamper home for the second which meant the match was tied which set up the first Super Over. 

Gurbaz had blasted 84 off 42 balls (4x4, 7x6) to set up Afghanistan’s chase, reducing the equation to 67 runs off 45 balls with seven wickets still remaining in the dugout. 

At that stage Afghanistan were holding all the aces, but the pendulum swung when Maharaj deceived the dynamic opener through the air as he attempted an inside-out cover drive, but the ball skewed out to point where George Linde took a good diving catch.

The door was open now to Afghanistan’s brittle middle-order and the Proteas were celebrating again two balls later when Darwish Rasooli and Azmatullah Omarzai were involved in a horrible mix-up with the batters caught at the same end, which allowed De Kock to gather the initial throw before rifling it to Maharaj at the end to run out Rasooli. 

It was the second double-wicket over for the Proteas after Lungi Ngidi was again outstanding in the Powerplay. Following on from his brilliant spell against Canada two nights ago, Ngidi broke the opening partnership with yet another well-disguised slower ball to clean bowl Ibrahim Zadran before completing a splendid caught-and-bowled to dismiss Gulbadin Naib for a duck.

Earlier, the Proteas initial target had been set up by half-centuries from Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton.

The southpaws counter-attacked by compiling a 114-run partnership off just 61 balls that set up the Proteas’ innings. Noor Ahmad was greeted to attack in brutal fashion with De Kock and Rickelton taking 23 runs of the wrist spinner’s first over.

De Kock was the first to bring up his half-century off 34 balls before Rickelton went even one better by reaching his milestone off only 23 deliveries. 

Unfortunately for the Proteas, they lost both set batters in the same over when Rashid Khan struck twice within deliveries with De Kock caught in the deep and Rickelton trapped LBW.

This halted the Proteas’ momentum with Afghanistan fighting back by keeping the run-rate in check and picking up the further wickets of Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs. 

It was not only until Marco Jansen joined David Miller that the Proteas’ innings was reignited with the pair adding 28 runs off the final two overs that was only the beginning of the drama.

ICC T20 World Cup, Group C

South Africa: 187/6 (Rickelton 61, De Kock 59, Omarzai 3/41, Rashid 2/28)

Afghanistan: 187 all out (Gurbaz 84, Ngidi 3/26, Maharaj 1/27)

Super Over 1

Afghanistan 17/0 (Omarzai 16*, Ngidi 0/17)

South Africa: 17/1 (Stubbs 10*, Brevis 6*, Farooqi 1/17)

Super Over 2

South Africa: 23/0 (Miller 16*, Stubbs 7*, Omarzai (0/23)

Afghanistan: 19/2 (Gurbaz 18, Maharaj 2/19)

South Africa won by the Super Over