ICC World T20 : South Africa Beats Afghanistan By 37 Runs

Mumbai: In the fourth ‘Group One’ match, South Africa defeated Afghanistan by 37 runs on Sunday at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first, scoring 209 runs off five wickets. Sunday’s score made South Africa the first team in World T20 history to post a second 200-plus score in the same edition after they scored a record-high score of 229 off four wickets that was overhauled by England in a thrilling fashion for the loss of eight wickets on March 18.

South African player Chris Morris was adjudged ‘Player Of The Match’ for taking four wickets off 27 runs for his team. Team captain AB de Villiers was the highest scorer for his team scoring 64 runs. He also scored the joint-second highest number of runs in an over in a World T20 match with 29 runs.

Afghanistan then scored 172 all out in 20 overs. Afghan cricketer Mohammad Shahzad scored the highest runs for his team — 44 runs. The defeat, the second suffered by Afghanistan after their six-wicket loss to Sri Lanka on March 17 at Kolkata, has virtually ended their hopes of advancing to the semi finals.

Afghanistan is now going to face England on March 24, whereas South Africa will take on West Indies on March 27. West Indies is currently leading ‘Group One’ with four points, while South Africa, England and Sri Lanka are tied for the second spot with two points each. Afghanistan is at the bottom of the group and yet to score a point.