10.45pm Well, that was quick. After opting to bat on a difficult pitch that offered variable bounce and substantial seam movement, Afghanistan folded for 56, their lowest total in T20Is. Jansen, Rabada, Nortje, Shamsi all were excellent for SA. Hendricks then worked his way into some form and helped his team knock off the small target within nine overs. One more win, and SA will become the first-ever unbeaten team to win the T20 World Cup. Thanks for for company and comments. Until next time, this is Deivarayan Muthu signing off on the behalf of Andrew McGlashan, Thilak Ram and Chandan Duorah. Take care and cheers.
Markram: It feels good. It's a massive squad effort. Really chuffed for us to have one more crack at lifting that trophy. Fortunate to have lost that toss - we also would've batted. The bowlers got it in the right areas and kept it really simple in these conditions. It's quite tough for batters but we knew it was a matter of partnership. We had a bit of luck and managed to get a bit of a partnership. There are a lot of people waking up with a little bit more grey hair, but this [comprehensive] win will be more comforting for them. We've never been there [final] before, but there's a lot of belief. It takes a full squad to put together a really good game of cricket.
Rashid: I think it was a tough night for us as a team and we could've done better than us. But conditions didn't let us do that but you should be mentally ready for any situation. I thought we didn't bat well. We were struggling when Mujeeb got injured, but Nabi, Fazal...that made our job as a spinning unit easier. The consistency in bowling was something pleasing for me. We came here before the tournament and if you told us we would be playing the semi-final against South Africa, we would accept that. Winning big games in this competition...and yes we are capable of beating any side. Next time when we participate in a tournament like this, we will have the belief. It's about how you manage yourself in those pressure situations against tough teams. There is a lot of hard work to be done, especially in the middle order. We need to be aggressive and have someone to take the innings deep. We have achieved some good results but when we come back in the tournament, we need to do better, especially in the batting department.
Here's Marco Jansen, the Player of the Match: Think the guys played really well and executed well. For us, it was just sticking to the plan and bowling our best ball. The assessment was the wicket was giving us a few to work with and we just wanted to keep it simple. He's awesome and he keeps it calm. We will enjoy [the win] and be on it again tomorrow.
Zainulabeddin: "Kirsten, Gibbs, Kallis, Jonty, Hansie, Boucher, KLUESNER, Boucher, Pollock, Donald, Smith, Amla, ABD, Faf, Steyn, etc.Goosebumps!!! Decades of emotions, love and support.South Africa made it to ICC World Cup final. Hope they win it and lift the trophy. A die hard fan since childhood. Go Proteas Go"
Sandeep Jalda : "Since Markram winning the U19 WC no SA team has ever been in a final, it took SA so many years to realize that he should be captaining in WCs"
Saugata: "As an indian supporter and general cricket fan, I think these are the two teams which no one would have begrudged if they were playing in the final. SA thoroughly deserved it after so many heartbreaks and near misses. And I am sure AFG will only go up from here and certainly will get many more chances. The cricket have won today, no doubt."
Manu: "I really hope Afg keep getting better and this's not a one-off like 2003 WC Kenya (on a side note, man, that Kenyan team was strong!)"
Roby Stephen : "For Afghanistan it is a victory as well to play a world cup semi final ahead of teams like Australia, New Zealand , Pakistan and West Indies . This is going to be the real catalyst for their emergence as a super power in cricket soon . Hats off to Rashid Khan who led them as a true Captain from the front as well as the team who contributed as a unit to achieve this . All the best South Africa to break the World Cup jinx. You're just about there."
Andrea : "As a Proteas fan since 1992, I am still on tenterhooks. We are so traumatized. Go Proteas! The bowling was splendid and we need to break this curse!"
