Afghanistan will look keep their heartbeats in check on Thursday as they take on South Africa in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The clash is being deemed as the battle of giant killers and perennial chokers since Afghanistan will be making their first semi-final appearance at a major ICC event after beating the likes of New Zealand and Australia. South Africa, on the other hand, are pretty familiar with such platforms, but often seem to crumble in games of this magnitude.
While fans eagerly wait for this clash, rain might have the final say. As per Accuweather, there is a possibility that rain might arrive at some point.
While the weather forecast suggests that the possibility of rain is around 1 per cent during the start of the match, there is high chance figure could rise up to 44 per cent. Even if there is rain on Thursday, ICC has alotted a reserve day for this match.
But, if no play is possible on both Thursday and Friday, Afghanistan will be knocked out. For the unversed, South Africa will be given a direct passage to the final due to their higher ranking during the Super 8 stage.
The Proteas had topped their groups in both the league stage, as well as the Super 8 stage. Afghanistan, on the other hand, finished second behind West Indies in the league phase, and India in Super 8s.
Afghanistan have been the revelation of this ICC showpiece. They found life and fighting spirit to rise above the ravages of war back in their country, best exemplified by an astounding win over 2021 winners Australia, whom they had never beaten before.
There were multiple heroes — skipper Rashid Khan has been immense throughout, pacers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq have given early breakthroughs, Gulbadin Naib conjured a miraculous spell against the Aussies while Mohammad Nabi remained perseverant.
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz leads the batting chart with 281 runs, while Farooqi is on top of the bowling list with 16 scalps.
It is a story in itself as how two Afghanistan players have raced past some marquee names to the top of the stats table.
(With PTI Inputs)