Rassie van der Dussen hit an unbeaten 76 to guide South Africa to a snug five-wicket win over Afghanistan of their final World Cup group sport on Friday as their opponents had been eradicated from the semi-final race.
Chasing 245 for victory, Van der Dussen steered the Proteas residence with 15 balls to spare in a tune-up for his or her semi-final towards Australia subsequent week.
Azmatullah Omarzai hit an unbeaten 97 to information Afghanistan to 244 all out in a match the place they wanted an unlikely 438-run win to make the final 4.
New Zealand look all set to fulfill hosts India within the different semi-final until Pakistan pull off an enormous win towards England on Saturday.
Enjoying for delight, Afghanistan’s spinners checked South Africa’s robust begin of 64-0 after Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed skipper Temba Bavuma for 23 and fellow spinner Mohammad Nabi trapped Quinton de Kock lbw on 41.
Bavuma’s hamstring troubled him all through the match whereas fielding and batting in a worrying signal forward of their semi-final.
De Kock, who will stop one-day internationals when this World Cup is over, overtook New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra (565) to reclaim his high spot within the match batting chart with 591 runs together with 4 centuries.
The Proteas put their chase again on monitor in a third-wicket stand of fifty however leg-spinner Rashid Khan broke by means of with the wicket of Aiden Markram for 25.
South Africa appeared in bother when Rashid bowled Heinrich Klaasen for 10 however Van der Dussen stood agency to construct partnerships together with an unbeaten 65-run stand with Andile Phehlukwayo, who hit the successful six in an unbeaten 39.
Earlier Afghanistan slipped to 116-6 earlier than Azmatullah hit his ODI greatest to elevate the crew to a aggressive complete.
South Africa quick bowler Gerald Coetzee took 4 wickets whereas spinner Keshav Maharaj returned spectacular figures of 2-25.
De Kock performed a key half together with his six wicketkeeping dismissals to equal a World Cup file of Australia’s Adam Gilchrist (v Namibia – Potchefstroom, 2003) and Pakistan’s Sarfaraz Ahmed (v South Africa – Auckland, 2015).
Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran began aggressively earlier than Maharaj struck together with his first ball to have Gurbaz caught for 25.
Coetzee despatched again Ibrahim within the subsequent over to verify the batting surge and Afghanistan slipped from 41-0 to 45-3 when Maharaj had skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi caught behind for 2.
Afghanistan misplaced three extra wickets to be in peril of getting bowled out in lower than their quota of fifty overs however Azmatullah stood agency to play out the innings.
Afghanistan, led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, ended a robust marketing campaign after they beat defending champions England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands.