What a game we have seen at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad where the pendulum swung from one team to another before South Africa escaped with a victory in the tournament’s first double super over. Phew! What a game of cricket we have seen in Ahmedabad. South Africa put into bat first rode on Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock’s enterprising fifties to post 187/6 with crucial contributions from the finishers Miller and Jansen as well.
In reply, Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s excellent knock of 84 off 42 balls with contributions from the lower middle order and some mistakes from South Africa pushed the game to the Super Over as both teams were tied at 187 with Lungi Ngidi bowling well for his 3/26 in 4 overs.
In the first Super Over, Afghanistan made 17 runs with Omarzai scoring 16 off them but South Africa hit back and tied the Super Over with a maximum scoring 17 runs as well thanks to the maximum from Stubbs towards the end as Omarzai went for plenty in the end. The match was still tied and we went to the second Super Over.
In the second super over, South Africa batted first and scored 23 runs with Tristan Stubbs scoring 7 but David Miller made 16 off 4 balls. Chasing 24 for an unlikely win, Afghanistan lost Mohammad Nabi in the second ball of the over and with 24 off 4 balls, Gurbaz hit 3 sixes in a row off Keshav Maharaj to make the equation down to 6 off 1 ball. A wide was thrown in but the bowler held their nerve as Afghanistan finished at 19/2 in the second super over to lose the game by 4 runs there.
Ryan Rickelton & Quinton de Kock’s enterprising fifties powers South Africa to 187/6.Â
Put into bat first, captain Aiden Markram and keeper batter Quinton de Kock opened the innings for South Africa while Fazalhaq Farooqi had ball in hand for Afghanistan. Farooqi bowled a good first over while Mujeeb went for a few in his first over as Quinton de Kock took him on. Markram did no last long as the opening duo put on 12 for the first wicket before the captain fell for 5 off 6 balls with one boundary to his name to Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Ryan Rickelton came out to bat next. Quinton looked in the zone and after taking his time even Rickelton looked in form and took down the Afghanistan bowling. The duo took the powerplay score to 43/1 in 6 overs. It was after the powerplay i.e. in middle overs where they launched as the duo aced the innings. Noor Ahmad went for 23 in one over as Rickelton in particular went berserk. In 4 overs, they reached 98/1 in 10 overs from 43/1 in 6 overs. The platform was set and at this stage even 200 looked like a possibility.
The duo completed a century run stand for the second wicket. Both the players reached their respective half-centuries in quick time. They put on 114 for the second wicket but Rashid Khan the captain came back and finally broke through. Quinton de Kock at the score of 126 fell for 59 off 41 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes to his name. Dewald Brevis came out to bat next. Rashid had two in the over as he removed Rickelton for 61 off 28 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes to his name as the batter was plumb in front and the review was burnt as well.
David Miller came out to bat next with the score at 127/3 in 13 overs. Brevis and Miller started forming a partnership in the backend of the innings to drive the innings forward. The duo added 28 runs for the 4th wicket before Brevis fell for 23 off 19 balls with one four and one six to his name to Azmatullah Omarzai. Tristan Stubbs came out to bat next. Omarzai had two wickets in the over as he removed Stubbs for 1 off 2 balls as 4 runs were added to the score before the 5th wicket fell. South Africa were 159/5 in 18 overs when Marco Jansen came to the crease.
Marco Jansen added crucial runs in the death overs. The duo added 28 runs in the last 12 balls with Jansen scoring 16 of them. Jansen hit some lusty blows while Miller too chipped in as well. Jansen fell in the last ball of the innings for 16 off 7 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Omarzai. Miller remained unbeaten on 20 off 15 balls with one four and one six to his name. 2 extras given by the fielding side as South Africa ended with 187/6 in 20 overs.
Afghanistan had a mixed outing with the ball in hand. Rashid Khan finished with impressive figures of 2/28 in 4 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai finished with 3/41 in 4 overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi finished with 1/32 in 4 overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman went for 30 runs in 3 overs. Mohammad Nabi finished with 0/20 in 2 overs. Noor Ahmad finished with 0/35 in 3 overs. This meant that Afghanistan needed a massive 188 runs to win off 20 overs.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s magnificent 84 ties the game and forces the game into the Super Over.Â
Chasing 188 for the win, Rahmanullah Gurbaz the keeper batter and Ibrahim Zadran came out to bat for Afghanistan. Lungi Ngidi had ball in hand for South Africa. Gurbaz was off and running while Ibrahim took time to settle into the middle. The duo put on 50 in 4 overs only. The first partnership was worth 51 in 4.2 overs before Ibrahim fell for 12 off 10 balls with one four and one six to his name to Lungi Ngidi as he was cleaned up. Gulbadin Naib came out to bat next.
Ngidi had two in the over as Naib fell for a silver duck. Sediqullah Atal came out to bat next. Atal did not last long as he fell for a bronze duck as Rabada got a wicket to his name. Darwish Rasooli came out to bat next. The powerplay score was 56/3 in 6 overs. Gurbaz led the charge post the powerplay and aced the middle phase while Rasooli just hung in there with him. It was the Gurbaz show that really carried this Afghanistan innings forward.
They aced the middle phase of the game. Gurbaz and Rasooli put on 69 runs off 43 balls before Gurbaz fell for 84 off 42 balls with 4 fours and 7 sixes to his name to Keshav Maharaj. Rasooli soon fell as he was run out for 15 off 18 balls. Azmatullah Omarzai came out to bat next and so did Mohammad Nabi. Omarzai played his shots and the duo added 18 runs for the 6th wicket before Nabi fell for 5 off 6 balls to George Linde. Captain Rashid Khan came out to bat next.
Omarzai and Rashid kept the fight going for Afghanistan in the final stages of the game. The duo put on 25 runs in quick time before Omarzai fell for 22 off 17 balls with 3 fours to his name to Ngidi. Mujeeb Ur Rahman came out to bat next. Just 5 runs were added to the tally before Rashid the captain fell for 20 off 12 balls with 3 fours to his name and at this stage, the game looked done and dusted. But then the madness began. Mujeeb came out to bat and so did Noor.
Noor hit one out of the park before Mujeeb fell run out for a golden duck. Fazalhaq Farooqi came out to bat but he was at the non-striker’s end. Noor was dismissed by Rabada but off a no ball. Then free hits and wides followed and Noor managed to tonk one over the park. Then another no ball came and then off a free hit with 2 needed off 3 balls, Fazalhaq Farooqi was run out at the bowler’s end and match was tied as Afghanistan were bowled out for 187 in 19.4 overs. Noor was unbeaten on 15 off 9 balls with 2 sixes to his name with 14 extras given by the fielding side.
Lungi Ngidi was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/36 in 4 overs. Marco Jansen finished with 1/42 in 4 overs. Kagiso Rabada finished with 1/38 in 3.4 overs. George Linde finished with 1/39 in 3 overs. Keshav Maharaj finished with 1/27 in 4 overs. Aiden Markram bowled an over for 14 runs. So, both teams finished on 187 and the match ended in a tie. We headed to the Super Over.
South Africa holds their nerves in the end and win in second super over.Â
In the first Super Over, Afghanistan batted first with Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz coming out to bat and Lungi Ngidi bowled the Super Over. Omarzai made 16* off 5 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name while Gurbaz was unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball as Afghanistan made 17/0 in 1 over. Chasing 18 to win in Super Over 1, David Miller and Dewald Brevis came out to bat while Fazalhaq Farooqi had ball in hand for Afghanistan. Miller got a single. Brevis then hit a maximum and got out to Farooqi for 6 off 2 balls with one six to his name.
Tristan Stubbs came out to bat and hit a boundary and with 7 needed off 1 ball, he hit a maximum over long-off to tie the first super over at 17 apiece. Stubbs made an unbeaten 10 off 3 balls with one four and one six to his name.
Then we went to the second Super Over where South Africa batted first with Tristan Stubbs and David Miller batting and Azmatullah Omarzai had ball in hand for Afghanistan. Stubbs hit a maximum and took a single while Miller hit two sixes to finish with an unbeaten 16 off 4 balls with 2 sixes to his name as South Africa posted 23 runs on the board.
Chasing 24 runs for the win in second super Over, Mohammad Nabi and Azmatullah Omarzai came out to bat while Keshav Maharaj had ball in hand for South Africa, Nabi played a dot ball and then got out for a silver duck. 24 was needed off 4 balls when Rahmanullah Gurbaz took Maharaj on and hit him for three consecutive sixes to take the equation down to 6 off 1 ball. Then a wide was delivered with 5 needed off 1 ball and then Maharaj held their nerves to seal the win as Gurbaz fell for 18 off 4 balls with 3 sixes to his name as Afghanistan finished with 19/2 at the end of it all.
So, South Africa win the second super over and make it 2 wins out of 2 games. Lungi Ngidi was awarded the Player of the Match but it could have been Rahmanullah Gurbaz had Afghanistan won this contest.
What Lies Ahead.Â
So, South Africa gets out of jail and win the contest via a double super over. With this win, they go to 4 points from 2 games in Group D same as New Zealand but behind on Net Run Rate. Afghanistan are heartbroken and they have 0 points from 2 games. South Africa will next face New Zealand on Saturday night in Ahmedabad while Afghanistan have games remaining against Canada and UAE.
So, a lot to look forward to and guess what, two more games coming your way today as Australia takes on Ireland in Colombo at 3 PM IST which will be followed by the big one England vs West Indies live from Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from 7 PM IST. The action is heating up in the World Cup 2026.
Also Read: ICC T20 WC 2026: Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s Half-Century Drives Afghanistan Forward In Daunting Chase.