Proteas master semi-final jinx, horror pitch to down Afghans

Afghanistan's fairy-tale run has been foiled by an ascendant South Africa side that are dreaming of their maiden World Cup crown after ending their semi-final hoodoo on a wild Trinidad pitch.

The Proteas will face either India or England in the decider after skittling the Afghans for their lowest ever T20I total by exploiting a volatile Brian Lara Stadium surface that has drawn condemnation.

Aiden Markram's men needed just 8.5 overs to pass Afghanistan's all-out 56 and make the decider of a men's World Cup for the first time after 19 previous attempts.

Markram, who finished 23no in the nine-wicket win, labelled his bowlers efforts as "special" but admitted batting had been a treacherous affair.

"Not going to lie and say when it's going up and down it doesn't play a role in your mind," said Markram, who led South Africa to an U19 World Cup title in 2014.

"But we knew it was a matter of a partnership up front. Had a bit of luck, which we're fortunate for, but managed to get a bit of partnership and from there it was a bit easier.

"Chuffed to have got over the line. A lot of our games have been really close and I know there's a lot people back at home in the early hours of the morning waking up and we've given them a lot of grey hairs, so hopefully this evening was a little bit more comforting for them. "

The sight of a Merv Hughes-led green-and-gold clad tour group highlighted the fact that this was the semi-final Australia would have played instead of Afghanistan had they not lost to Rashid Khan's men, or beaten India in their final Super Eights match.

But South Africa, having avoided their bogey team that have been responsible for three of their seven previous semi-final exits, now have the chance to once and for all shed their tag as 'chokers' on the biggest stage.

"We weren't expecting that. We just wanted to come out and hit our straps," Kagiso Rabada told the host broadcaster after clean bowling two of the Afghans in his first over, both with stunning nip-backers.

"It's obviously moving around quite a bit. We got the ball in the right area, bowled with good energy and reaped the rewards.

"We 100 per cent believe this is the team (to win the World Cup). Why play if we don't believe it?"

Ricky Ponting questioned the preparation of the Tarouba surface on commentary as Rabada's fellow speedsters Marco Jansen (player of the match with figures of 3-16) and Anrich Nortje (2-7), and then Afghan quicks Naveen-ul-Haq (0-15) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (1-11), all proved highly challenging.

Quinton de Kock was hit in the rib and then bowled by tournament leading wicket taker Farooqi with the wicket displaying extreme variation in bounce.

Markram and Reeza Hendricks (29no) continued to struggle with the conditions but grimly edged their side over the line.

"It seems strange to me that you would use a brand-new wicket for a semi-final, one that actually you've got no idea about how it's going to play," said Ponting on the Prime Video broadcast.

"The variation in bounce and seam that we've seen here ... I'm not sure if I'm the groundsman if I'm experimenting with something like that in such a big moment."

With 13, Afghanistan's top-scorer was extras with Azmatullah Omarzai (10) the only other to reach double digits, while none of their batters lasted more than 13 balls.

Wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi snared three of the final four Afghanistan wickets in the decimation that saw Rashid Khan's call to bat first backfire.

"I think it was a tough, tough match for us as a team," said Rashid, who failed to review an early caught-behind appeal off Markram replays showed the SA skipper had edged.

"We might have done a little better than that but the conditions didn't let us do what we wanted.

"T20s you have to be mentally ready for any conditions. But the way they bowled was exceptionally well and we couldn’t bat well … we have so much hard work to be done."

The winner of the India-England semi being played in Guyana early Friday morning (AEST) will face the Proteas in Barbados in the final.

Men's T20 World Cup finals

27 June: Semi-final 1, South Africa beat Afghanistan by nine wickets

28 June: Semi-final 2, India v England, Providence Stadium, Guyana, 12.30am AEST

30 June: Final, Kensington Oval, Barbados, 12.30am AEST

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