The important Group D match between South Africa and Afghanistan created history, where the absolute thriller ended in South Africa’s favour, who clinched the valuable two points after winning the second Super Over of the match.
Ahmedabad hosted the match on Wednesday morning (11 February), where Afghanistan chose to field first. While South Africa scored 187/6 in 20 overs, Afghanistan replied with 187 all out. The first Super Over was tied with Afghanistan scoring 17/0 and South Africa replying with 17/1. In the next Super Over, while South Africa scored 23/0, Afghanistan once again battled incredibly but lost by four runs after scoring 19/2.
ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, South Africa vs Afghanistan (Group D) - 1st Super Over
In the first Super Over, South African pacer Lungi Ngidi conceded 17 runs, while Azmatullah Omarzai scored 16 not out off five balls, with two fours and one six. In reply, Fazalhaq Farooqi conceded the last ball six to Tristian Stubbs (10 not out off three balls) to secure another tie.
ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, South Africa vs Afghanistan (Group D) - 2nd Super Over
In the second Super Over, Azmatullah Omarzai conceded three sixes, as Tristian Stubbs (7 not out off two balls) welcomed his with a six, while David Miller (16 not out off four balls) slammed two over boundaries.
In reply, Mohammed Nabi was dismissed on the second ball, as Afghanistan scored 0/1 in two balls against the left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, and they required 24 runs off four balls, which meant four sixes in a row. While everybody thought the thriller was already over, Rahmanullah Gurbaz had another plan, as he slammed three consecutive sixes to bring down the target six runs from one ball. While Maharaj delivered a wide on the next ball, Gurbaz was dismissed at point on the final legal delivery, as South Africa finally won the game.
Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton set strong platform for South Africa
Earlier in the game, South Africa lost their opener and captain Aiden Markram for only five runs in the third over, but Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton controlled the innings with a strong second-wicket partnership of 114 runs. While De Kock scored 59 off 41 balls with five fours and three sixes, Ryan scored 61 off 28 balls with five fours and four sixes.
Dewald Brevis (23) and David Miller (20*) added crucial 20s, before Marco Jansen had a useful cameo of 16 from seven balls with two fours and one six.
Among the Afghan bowlers, Azmatullah Omarzai (3/41) got three wickets, while Rashid Khan (2/28) picked up two wickets.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz slammed 84 before Noor Ahmad's stunning finish in no-ball final over drama
In reply, while Afghans were losing wickets at regular intervals, opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz was replying strongly with the score of 84 off 42 balls with four fours and seven sixes. Azmatullah Omarzai (22) and captain Rashid Khan (20) were the only other batters with 20s. Noor Ahmad’s 15 not out off nine balls rescued the match for the Afghans.
In the final over, Afghanistan needed 13 runs from six balls with one wicket in hand, and Noor Ahmad was caught at cover, but the no-ball siren set a new story for the match. Experienced Kagiso Rabada then conceded a wide, while conceding an over boundary on the second legal
ball. Rabada conceded another no-ball on the fourth ball, while Noor also added two more runs. Afghanistan now needed two runs from three balls, where Noor-Fazalhaq Farooqi completed a single on the free hit, but Farooqi was just run out while completing his second run, as the thriller ended with a tie that forced to the Super Over.
While five out of six South African bowlers managed to pick up at least one wicket, player of the match Lungi Ngidi had the bowling figures of 4-0-26-3.
