Kagiso Rabada the rapid pace bowler from South Africa was right on the money to cause more trouble for the struggling Afghanistan team in the first semifinal of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Delivering a double blow in the very first over the rightarm seamer showcased his prowess at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on Wednesday June 26.
Marco Jansen had set the tone for his seam bowling partner with his double strikes, which broke the dreaded Gurbaz-Zadran partnership at the top and dropped them to 16-2. To make matters worse, Afghanistan received little break from the early punches when Kagiso Rabada was thrown into the assault in the fourth over.
Kagiso Rabada went through Ibrahim Zadran’s defense on his first ball, bowling him. Kagiso Rabada hit again, with a stunning delivery that startled veteran Mohammad Nabi. The ball moved slightly after being pitched at a respectable length, leaving Nabi with his bat out and hoping for the best. However, the ball avoided the bat and struck the off stump.
Here’s a video of the dismissal:
Afghanistan, who bravely advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Australia and Bangladesh in the Super 8 stage, were left reeling at 20-4 after Rabada’s opening over. Because of Gurbaz and Zadran’s outstanding performances, their middle order has had little to do during the tournament. The opening duo has batted deep, leaving the middle order to apply the finishing touches.
However, with the entire top order back in the hut, Afghanistan must find a method to score enough runs to compete in the knockout round.
Afghanistan endure a nightmarish innings after South African bowlers’ exploits
Afghanistan was unable to recover from Jansen’s early strikes, as Rabada piled on further trouble. The former struck again in his third over, as Afghanistan lost their fifth wicket during the powerplay.
Speedster Anrich Nortje wasted no time immediately nabbing a wicket upon his entry into the game in the seventh over. The Rashid Khan led squad was quickly dismissed for a paltry 56 runs in just 11.5 overs all credits to the stellar performances of Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi both clinching three wickets each.
