Marco Jansen to Gurbaz, no run, 138kph back of a length ball on middle and off, Gurbaz covers the line and blocks it down the track
0.4
Marco Jansen to Ibrahim Zadran, 1 run, edged but safe!
0.3
Marco Jansen to Ibrahim Zadran, no run, pitched up ball outside off, swinging in a bit, Ibrahim Zadran goes for a drive but gets it off the inner half to the right of Marco Jansen
0.2
Marco Jansen to Ibrahim Zadran, no run, Ibrahim Zadran walks down the track to counter the swing and seam movement.
Afghanistan's opening stands in 1st inns this WC 154 vs UGA 103 vs NZ 118 vs AUS 59 vs BAN
0.1
Marco Jansen to Gurbaz, leg byes, 1 run, good length ball swinging in towards leg-stump, Gurbaz looks to tuck it across but the ball deflects off his thigh pad towards fine leg for a leg bye
Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran are at the crease. Gurbaz is on strike. Marco Jansen will open the attack
The players stride out to the middle for their respective National Anthems.
We have made a few changes to our expert XI. Refer to Fantasy Handbook before locking in your teams.
Anrich Nortje: West Indies game was a brilliant game, our two spinners and Markram bowled as well, we need to sum up the conditions as quickly as possible. KG has never bowled so late in an innings, he came onto bowl in the 18th over of the innings. We need to stay in the moment and do our best. It’s very important, we have been playing around with Shamsi, Baartman has also missed some games. You don’t exactly know how the wicket is going to be, it’s about being as smart as possible. (On how does Franchise cricket help) It definitely does, not everyone plays everyone, some experienced players also don’t play others, it’s great to get footage, it definitely does help.
STAT:
At this venue, this is the first time a team won the toss and opted to bat first in 5 matches this World Cup. In those previous 4 matches, the chasing team won three.
South Africa has never won an ICC World Cup semi-final in the previous seven attempts. Lost six and tied one game against AUS in 1999 at Edgbaston. This is the first ICC World Cup semifinal for Afghanistan.
The wind is blowing at a speed is 17kmph. Coming to ground dimensions, it's 63 meters square of the wicket on either side and 75m hit straight down the ground. It’s a brand new wicket, it's been seam, it’s been swing and it’s been spin. There are a lot of cracks and there’s patchy grass so there will be uneven bounce. Out of the 51 wickets taken at this venue this world cup, 38 have been taken by seamers. It’s a bat first wicket and I think 140-150 would be a good score on this track, reckon Shaun Pollock and Ricky Ponting in their pitch report.
Teams:
South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan(c), Nangeyalia Kharote, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Markram: We would have probably batted first
Afghanistan have won the toss and have opted to bat