South Africa vs Afghanistan Highlights, T20 World Cup 2026: South Africa beat Afghanistan in double Super Over thriller

George Linde to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, SIX! Exceptional from Gurbaz! George Linde sees the batter making room leg side and angles it in. Rahmanullah Gurbaz holds his shape and plays it inside out and sends the ball sailing over the wide long off fence for half a dozen.

An over each for the Proteas pacers so far. Time for George Linde to roll his arms now.

Kagiso Rabada to Ibrahim Zadran, Another play and a miss. Full and in the channel, drawing out the drive from Zadran but the ball beats the willow once again. 10 runs off KG's first over.

Kagiso Rabada to Ibrahim Zadran, Pitched up, very full and outside off. Ibrahim Zadran jams his bat across but the ball swings away past the blade.

Kagiso Rabada to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Nicely bowled. Slower from Rabada, angled well into the batter. Gurbaz gets cramped for room even as he tries to back away and chops it down to short fine leg for a single.

Kagiso Rabada to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, WIDE! Slower one, full and just angled down the leg side.

Kagiso Rabada to Ibrahim Zadran, Back of a length again, rising extra off the deck. Zadran gets up on his toes and angles it down to deep third for one more.

Kagiso Rabada to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Back of a length, straighter in line, nudged away in front of mid-wicket for a single.

Just one for Lungi Ngidi. Kagiso Rabada is into the attack.

Kagiso Rabada to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, SIX! Rahmanullah Gurbaz is fighting fire with fire. KG begins with a shortish ball around off, pace on as well. Gurbaz backs away and carves it over deep third for another biggie. It is brilliantly held by someone in the crowd as well.

Marco Jansen to Ibrahim Zadran, Slightly short and outside off, cut away straight to point.

Marco Jansen to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Good length on the pads, tucked away 'round the corner on the leg side for a single.

Marco Jansen to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Oh, buzzers! Back of a length and angled across off, Gurbaz taps it to the left of George Linde at cover-point and wanders down the pitch. Linde tries to keep him honest and fires in a throw at the keeper's end. It is a direct hit but the ball deflects away and the batters end up picking up two overthrows.

Marco Jansen to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, SIX! All the way and that's the first six of the chase. Dug in very short and angled across off, Rahmanullah Gurbaz backs away a bit and opens the face of the blade to ramp it over deep third for a biggie.

Marco Jansen to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Good length on middle, Gurbaz looks to turn it leg side but closes the bat face early and nudges it down back to the bowler.

Marco Jansen to Ibrahim Zadran, That's a fine stop from George Linde. Short of a length and angled across off, Zadran stands tall and pats it away to the left of cover-point. Linde lunges across and makes a half stop, keeping it down to a single.

Will South Africa bowl a spinner from the other end? No, Marco Jansen to steam in...

Lungi Ngidi to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, A dot to end but Afghanistan are off to a flier. Good length, albeit a touch fuller and around off. Gurbaz defends it to square cover.

Lungi Ngidi to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, FOUR! Stylishly picked up by Gurbaz. Hard length on middle, angling in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz gets inside the line and whips it wristily over square leg for a boundary. 13 off the first over, already.

Lungi Ngidi to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Much better from Ngidi. Good length, around the top of off, blocked off.

Lungi Ngidi to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, FIVE WIDES! That's a wild delivery from Ngidi. Rahmanullah Gurbaz moves past the leg stump early and this forces the bowler to follow him. Ngidi bangs it in a bit short and the ball swings down the leg side and rolls away into the fine leg fence.

Lungi Ngidi to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Back of a length, well outside off again, Gurbaz gets on his toes and taps it down to covers.

Lungi Ngidi to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, FOUR! A gift from Ngidi and Rahmanullah Gurbaz obliges. Juicy full toss outside off, Gurbaz leans on and drives it between mid off and covers and picks up a boundary to get going.

Lungi Ngidi to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, A bit of shape to begin with. On a good length and well outside off, moves away from the right-hander and Gurbaz leaves it alone.

Welcome back for the Afghan's reply. The Proteas are in the huddle. Aiden Markram is seen giving a pep-talk to his fellow players. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran are the openers for Afghanistan. Lungi Ngidi to bowl first...

...The Run Chase...

The chase is coming up - Despite the pre-match chatter suggesting that spin would dictate the narrative on this surface, Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton effectively neutralised Afghanistan’s primary weapon. Their century stand was the backbone of the Proteas’ innings, yet Afghanistan walks off the field with the psychological edge after pulling things back a bit. With South Africa expected to mirror their opponents by deploying early spin and a heavy dose of pace variations, the chase will demand both tactical discipline and a quick adaptation to the changing conditions as the sun keeps beating down on the deck. Stay tuned for the chase.

A quick word with the Proteas' number 3 - Ryan Rickelton is up for chat. He says that he enjoyed batting with QDK. He reckons that the start was a bit tough, but they adapted well to form a strong partnership. Also adds that the plan was to absorb the pressure and put it back onto the opposition. On the pitch conditions, he says that it's different from their last game. Ended up saying there is some hold in the wicket and their spinners are ready for it.

Master-apprentice partnership - The innings was defined by a blistering 114-run partnership between Quinton de Kock (59 off 41) and Ryan Rickelton (61 off 28), which threatened to take the game away early. However, Rashid Khan’s brilliance in the 13th over, removing both set batters in the space of three balls, sparked an Afghan resurgence that significantly slowed the scoring rate.

A little cameo - Marco Jansen and David Miller unleash a late-inning blitz, plundering 28 runs off the final 12 deliveries to propel South Africa close to the 200-run milestone. While the Proteas might have fallen slightly short of the massive target they initially envisioned, this late surge ensured they reached a competitive total.

Azmatullah Omarzai to Marco Jansen, OUT! TAKEN! A wicket to end proceedings in the first innings. Another off-paced delivery from Azmatullah Omarzai, bowled into the surface and there's that tennis-ball-like bounce on display again. Marco Jansen fetches to pull but gets a top edge over mid on. Sediqullah Atal comes in from the deep and slides in to take a solid catch. Jansen's cameo of 16 (7) comes to an end and South Africa finish with 187/6 on the board.

Azmatullah Omarzai to Marco Jansen, Change-up from Azmat. Slower one into the deck, angled into the batter. Jansen looks to pull but misses.

Azmatullah Omarzai to Marco Jansen, FOUR! CRUNCHED! Full and outside off, Omarzai misses his mark with the yorker. Jansen stays deep in the crease and pummels it wide of long off for a boundary.

Azmatullah Omarzai to David Miller, Banged in short over off, a bit slower too. Miller rocks back and pulls it down to deep mid-wicket for just a single.

Azmatullah Omarzai to David Miller, SIX! Into the crowd. Overpitched from Azmat, well outside off. David Miller extends the arms and just caresses the lofted shot over long off for a maximum.

Azmatullah Omarzai to David Miller, Slower one, bowled full and outside off. The ball grips and nips away a bit. Miller has a wild swing across the line but misses.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Marco Jansen, A good yorker to end the 19th over but 17 runs still come off it. Full and angled in a bit from outside off, lands on the popping crease. Jansen jams it out to extra cover.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Marco Jansen, SIX! Marco Jansen is on the charge! Slower ball, on the shorter side and outside off. Sits up for the tall Jansen and he just waits back before swatting it back over the bowler's head for a biggie. 17 off it already.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Marco Jansen, Even fuller and outside off, squeezed away to the left of sweeper cover this time for a couple of runs more.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to Marco Jansen, FOUR! Oh, that should have been stopped. Farooqi comes around the wicket to Jansen and angles in a full ball from outside off. MJ gets low and strokes it on the up, wide of Ibrahim Zadran at sweeper cover and he is unable to make up the ground to his right.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to David Miller, Gets the yorker spot-on this time, does Farooqi. Full and straight, tailing in a bit. Miller digs it out in front of square leg and picks up a single.

Fazalhaq Farooqi to David Miller, FOUR! The bowler misses his mark but Miller doesn't. A juicy full toss on middle, Miller heaves it away towards cow corner and the ball races away to the fence.

South Africa have lost the plot after that heavy partnership between Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock. Credit to Afghanistan for pulling things back. Marco Jansen is the new batter in, replacing Tristan Stubbs.

Azmatullah Omarzai to Tristan Stubbs, OUT! CAUGHT! A quick in and out for Tristan Stubbs and Azmatullah Omarzai ends the over with his second wicket. Back to over the wicket for the right-hander, pitched up fuller and on off. Stubbs lunges across and tries to lap it away but ends up angling it towards short fine leg. Mujeeb Ur Rahman clings on to a low catch down to his left and Stubbs has to walk back after making just 1 (2).

Azmatullah Omarzai to David Miller, BYE! Slower one into the pitch, this is bowled from around the wicket. Miller looks to pull and misses. The keeper gets a bad bounce and the ball deflects off his pads to short third. The batters get a bye.

Azmatullah Omarzai to David Miller, Pitched up fuller and angled well across the left-hander, Miller reaches out and hammers it to the left of sweeper cover for a couple of runs.

Azmatullah Omarzai to Tristan Stubbs, Good length on top of off, punched down to mid off for a single.

Out goes Dewald Brevis, in comes Tristan Stubbs.

Azmatullah Omarzai to Dewald Brevis, OUT! CAUGHT! A soft dismissal and Afghanistan get another timely wicket. Azmatullah Omarzai switches to pace off and bowls another short ball, wide outside off. Instead of going for the cut, Dewald Brevis tries to fetch the ball and pull it across. Brevis ends up toe-ending it flat towards mid off, where Mohammad Nabi takes a simple catch. Brevis departs for 23 (19) and SA are now 155/4.

Azmatullah Omarzai to Dewald Brevis, Short ball, hammered into the pitch and outside off. Brevis stays back and swats it across between long on and deep mid-wicket for a couple of handy runs.