ICC WT20:South africa beat a spirited Afghanistan by 37 runs

         

Batting first S.A made almost impossible to achieve 209-5 & thus were expecting a easy match but they up against Afghanistan who at a point were almost 50 in just 3 overs.


Batting first S.A lost Amla very early at just score of 25 then there was 65 runs partnership between de Kock & Faf du Plessis which S.A a base launch an attack which resulted S.A making mighty score of 209-5.AB de Villiers made 64 while Duminy & Miller made 29,19 respectively.

Shahzad thrilled, raised hopes, but couldn't prolong his knock enough. He had to be the one with a quick 80-90. But Morris proved to be too good for him. And one can argue, that was the match. Anyway, there's a lot to take from Afghanistan's performance. The way they've grown has been so heartening to see. And we can only imagine the leaps they can take with more and more exposure. South Africa have hung on to an important win here to keep things in their hands, but they aren't looking the invincible side they can be

Stanikzai in post match ceremony said "The total was too high. But the wicket is good for batting. Unfortunately, when the game tilted towards us, we lost wickets. Shahzad started very well and it was good for us. But we gave the wickets too early. That's why we lost the match. We'll try our best to play good cricket as we go along."

Faf du Plessis: "To be completely honest, yes it was deja vu at the start. Shahzad put a lot of pressure with some really good shots. Tough to start like that to be put under pressure straightaway. And then you need someone to step up and luckily Morris did. Just a bit of aggression at the top, need the quick bowlers to stand up. That's what SA pride themselves on, pace and aggression. Need to do better in the first 3 overs. Our batting was solid again. They bowled well on a good wicket. But we still ended up giving extras. Little bit of improvement. Still a lot of work to be done. Obviously we move to a different continent now for the next game. We pride ourselves to be smart and make the right decisions."