Proteas clinch win against Afghanistan after dramatic back-to-back Super Overs

In a game for the ages, the Proteas clinched a crucial win against Afghanistan by four runs in not the first Super Over, but the second of their T20 World Cup Group D clash.

The Proteas had it won. Then it looked lost, then they survived by a whisker before clinging on for victory in the second Super Over.

It was absolute mayhem at the Ahmedabad stadium as Afghanistan came within one blow to picking up their first-ever win against South Africa in a T20 World Cup.

They were so close, too. In the last over of regulation play, with 13 runs needed, Proteas pace bowler Kagiso Rabada offered the men in blue a lifeline.

Uncharacteristically cracking under pressure, Rabada bowled one wide and two no-balls offering Afghanistan hope. They needed just two runs from that second no-ball to win with one wicket in hand.

However, in the cauldron of pressure, Mujeeb Ur Rahman was run out while attempting a second run off a free hit from the no-ball. Marco Jansen and Rabada combined for the run-out, which left the scores tied on 187 runs in a game that South Africa thought was in the bag.

Back-to-back Super Overs

On their feet and roaring, the crowd exploded knowing that the second Group D contest was to be decided by a Super Over.

Lungi Ngidi bowled South Africa’s Super Over. Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz took 17 off it, smacking two fours and one six.

South Africa sent in big hitters David Miller and Dewald Brevis to chase the score.

Brevis launched the first ball for six. But the drama did not end there. Fazalhaq Farooqi dismissed Brevis with the second ball. Tristan Stubbs, Brevis’ replacement, refused to buckle, edged a four, and then smacked a six on the last ball of the Proteas’ Super Over to bring the game to yet another tie.

South Africa batted first in the second Super Over – the first time a second Super Over was needed in a T20 World Cup – and smashed 23 off it. Stubbs hit one six and Miller, who scored an unbeaten 15-ball 20 earlier in the game, showed exceptional form in launching two sixes.

It all looked lost for Afghanistan when the first two balls of Keshav Maharaj’s bowling only went for one run in the second Super Over.

But Gurbaz, who scored a superb 84 in regulation, launching three sixes off balls three, four and five. Needing six for another tied over off the final ball, Maharaj bowled a wide, leaving a target of five off the extra ball.

Suddenly Afghanistan had a chance, but Maharaj and the team combined to have Gurbaz caught in the covers.

South Africa prevailed in a nerve-shredding finish.

The calm before the storm

Believe it or not, there was calm before the storm. After Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bowl first, the Proteas put up a competitive score of 187 for six.

To think Ryan Rickelton was not in the initial squad for this T20 World Cup. To think the theory was De Kock and Rickelton, both similar batters in that they are left-handers and wicketkeepers, could not co-exist in the squad. In their game against Afghanistan, the two proved everyone wrong.

Following Aiden Markram’s hasty exit, Rickelton and De Kock settled into a crucial foundation that saw a 100-run partnership at the start of the 11^th over. Emulating each other, both reached 50 runs in the same over, which was also Rickelton’s first half-century in a T20 World Cup.

However, knowing the pair had to be stopped and determined to not repeat his previous high-scoring over, Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan walked in and took two wickets in his second over with a decisive double strike.

This was the first double-wicket over out of four in the game across both teams with Omarzai, Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj also striking.

But the damage was done. De Kock walked away with 59 off 41 and Rickelton with a brilliant 61 off 28.

Contrasting PowerPlays

With the PowerPlay being crucial and an opportunity to attack the boundary, South Africa were off to a quiet start. In the first over, Afghanistan pace bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi kept South Africa at bay with five dot balls. One-and-a-half overs later he changed the pace, bowling a cutter that saw Markram out for only five runs.

South Africa eventually picked up the pace, ending the PowerPlay with a respectable 43 for one.

This is a major contrast to the explosive PowerPlay from Afghanistan. At 3.2 overs, Afghanistan’s opening batsmen, Ibrahim Zadran and Gurbaz, matched the Proteas’ PowerPlay score without losing a wicket.

At four overs, the pair established a 50-run partnership. To put into perspective how significant this was for Afghanistan, in their last encounter with the Proteas they were bowled out in the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup for 56 runs.

Gurbaz scored a blistering 42-ball 84, his highest T20 World Cup score with a strike rate of 200. Even as the wickets started falling around him in the back-end of the PowerPlay, Gurbaz remained composed yet aggressive, striking four fours and seven sixes to keep the innings moving and South Africa searching for answers.

Bowlers came to play

Ngidi was yet again the man South Africa turned to after delivering another explosive performance, taking three wickets bringing his total to seven in the tournament and the second highest number of wickets taken so far in the 2026 T20 World Cup.

In the fifth over Ngidi allotted only one run to the Afghans, and took the wickets of Ibrahim Zadran and Gulbadin Naib, who went out for a duck.

Perhaps, however, the turning point in the game came in the 13^th over when Proteas spin bowler Maharaj bagged the most crucial wicket of Gurbaz and, two balls later, Darwish Rasooli was run out after a miscommunication between the batters.

South Africa have two days to catch their breath after this thrilling second game, as they take on New Zealand on Saturday, 14 February at 3.30pm South African time. DM