It’s still a tall order to make the World Cup semifinals, but let’s celebrate the much-needed win against Afghanistan.
After a disappointing start to the Cricket World Cup in England, which saw them register merely a point out of a possible eight(8), Proteas’ captain Faf du Plessis and his entourage made progress–winning at last. On a rain-threating Saturday morning at Cardiff, the Proteas registered a victory against helpless Afghanistan.
It seems silly to imagine a cricketing powerhouse nation, like South Africa, making such a fuss about winning a game like this. But, in reality, it’s not silly at all, particularly at this juncture. The Proteas needed a win badly.
The difference was none other than our side’s injury-hampered bowling attack, which reduced Afghanistan’s batsmen to a lame 125 runs while equally sharing the workload. The country’s leading spinner, Imran Tahir, was at the heart of things, taking four wickets as you would’ve expected, with all-rounders Andile Phehlukwayo and Chris Morris taking two and three, respectively. Speedster Kagiso ‘KG’ took home a single wicket.
Hashim Amla (photo, Zee News)
And the run-chase by the top-order batsmen can’t be ignored. In over-turning the Afghanistan innings, the most ransacked and raided top-order batsmen line-up by opposition teams in search of wickets (South Africa), successfully did so. The chase saw Hashim Amla and Quinton de Cock, South Africa’s two opening batsmen, register 41 and 68, respectively. De Cock was caught at mid-off and his replacement Aiden Markram’s privy dismissal didn’t affect the team. Phehlukwayo came on and sealed off the duty for the team.
While the win didn’t certainly reduce the pressure on the Proteas (with four matches to be won to ensure a semifinal place), at least our side deserves plaudits for getting last weekend’s win.
Next up for the Proteas is New Zealand on Wednesday.
