Double Super Over drama sees SA edge Afghanistan

Rahmanullah Gurbaz's multiple explosive stints with the bat in the middle went in vain as South Africa clinched one of the most thrilling contests in the history of T20 World Cups, securing a win in the second Super Over in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

The contest, where the pendulum swung in either direction several times over, one which promised to end several times before it eventually did, was finally decided on the last ball of the second Super Over.

The match could have ended in the first ball of the last over itself, when Kagiso Rabada had Noor Ahmad caught at cover. But the pacer had overstepped. It was a reprieve for Afghanistan, who were chasing 13 off the final over with only one wicket in hand.

It could have ended in the last ball of the first Super Over as well, but with South Africa needing 7 to win, chasing 18, Tristan Stubbs - who hadn't faced a delivery till then - smashed Fazalhaq Farooqi straight down the ground for a six.

Once again, with four balls left in the second Super Over, the match looked to be decided. Chasing 24 for victory, Afghanistan failed to score off the first two deliveries - and even lost the wicket of Mohammad Nabi. All that South Africa needed was a dot ball. But it just didn't end.

Gurbaz, who had earlier smashed a 42-ball 84 and set the stage of Afghanistan's chase, smoked three sixes off three balls to take the requirement down to 6 off the final delivery to seal the contest. Maharaj, in his attempt to go away from Gurbaz's hitting arc, ended up bowling a wide, leaving another possibility for a contest so evenly fought to eventually end in a tie, taking it to a third Super Over. Maharaj sent the final delivery away from the arc of Gurbaz, who smashed it into the hands of David Miller at point.

In hindsight there would be many decisions that Afghanistan might rue. To begin with, the decision to not bowl Rashid Khan in either of the Super Overs. The second one, especially, proved too costly for them as Azmatullah Omarzai missed his lengths under pressure, and was duly punished by both Miller and Stubbs. And then, with a tall task at hand, Nabi went out to open the innings in the final Super Over, a decision that proved costly.

Nonetheless, that Afghanistan managed to stretch the contest as deep as they did in itself is creditable, and Rabada would partly be responsible for it. After bowling the no-ball in the final over of the chase, a wide followed and Noor deposited one over the deep square leg boundary for a six. He then overstepped again, providing more opportunities for Afghanistan to stay strong in the contest.

However, it was another erroneous judgement on the part of Afghanistan which eventually led to their loss. Needing two to win off the last three balls, off a Free Hit, Noor drilled Rabada's full delivery to long off and Afghanistan's last pair attempted to go for a quick two, and Farooqui failed to dive on his return before Rabada knocked out the stumps.

Earlier in the day, it was Gurbaz's blazing 42-ball 84 which set the stage for Afghanistan in the chase. The opener got going with two cracking boundaries in the opening over, and sustained the pace through the PowerPlay - an aspect that the Afghan head coach was looking for improvement in. Jansen and Rabada were smoked for a six each, while George Linde was taken apart for 17.

With 50 runs wiped out within four overs, Afghanistan were cruising in the chase, but Lungi Ngidi pegged them back with two slower balls. Ibrahim Zadran was cleaned up and Gulbadin Naib lobbed a catch back to the bowler. A few balls later, Rabada sent back Sediqullah Atal and reduced Afghanistan to 52 for 3, adding only four more runs before the end of the PowerPlay.

While Darwish Rasooli struggled to keep the scoring rate healthy, Gurbaz kept finding the occasional boundaries to retain Afghanistan's momentum. Starting from the 12th over, Gurbaz started to unleash his big strokes again, and whacked two sixes and a boundary in a space of three deliveries to charge towards his century. However, South Africa returned to break that momentum again. Maharaj had Gurbaz caught at short third and Rasooli was run out as the game began to twist again.

With the required rate still high, Omarzai and Rashid Khan started to cut loose towards the end phase of the innings, but a flurry of wickets had left the game tantalizingly poised in the final over

Earlier in the first innings, Farooqui had made an impressive start with the ball, using his variations to good effect, to trouble the South African openers with movement. Aiden Markram, after some initial struggle, fell to a slower ball by the left-arm seamer, going early into the loft and ended up skying it to mid off.

Quinton De Kock and Ryan Rickleton, however, ensured that South Africa weren't pressed on the backfoot despite the early troubles. With a deeper batting order to cushion them, courtesy the inclusion of Linde in place of Corbin Bosch, they always remained on the attack. Mujeeb ur Rahman was crunched for a couple of boundaries by de Kock, and Rickelton took advantage of errors in lengths by Omarzai to punish for two boundaries as well.

South Africa managed 43 runs off the PowerPlay, but ensured the boundaries kept flowing even after. Rashid Khan's wrong un' was hit over the long-off fence by de Kock and Nabi's fullish delivery was slogswept over long-on by Rickelton. The most lethal of the attacks was, however, reserved for Noor, who was taken apart for 23 runs in his opening over.

The left-handed duo brought up their respective half-centuries in the 11th over. De Kock reached the mark in 34th delivery with a boundary pulled through mid wicket, and Rickelton reached there in only 23 deliveries with a six smoked over long on.

The century partnership, which had completely taken the momentum in South Africa's favour, was broken in the 13th over, when Rashid sent back both the batters. De Kock fell to the bait by the leggie. Even as the spinner had three fielders stationed in the deep, the veteran attempted to take them on, and ended up pulling straight to the fielder at deep mid wicket. Three balls later, Rickelton was trapped LBW to a delivery that came from a wide angle.

For a brief while, South Africa's scoring dried up as Dewald Brevis and David Miller attempted to bide their time in the middle. For a six-over period from Over 13-18, the scoring rate was strangled to 5.83, a massive dip from the previous six-over phase when South Africa were cruising at 13.50. However, that didn't prove too effective for them as Omarzai struck twice in the 18th over to keep a check on the late surge.

Marco Jansen and Miller clubbed three boundaries and two sixes to help South Africa to a healthy 187 for 6, but Afghanistan had ensured that the work of the second-wicket stand was undone to a good extent. It kept them to a target that Afghanistan threatened to overhaul all along, but eventually fell short - registering their second loss and handing South Africa their second win of the tournament.

Brief Scores: South Africa 187/6 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickleton 61, Quinton de Kock 59; Azmatullah Omarzai 3-41, Rashid Khan 2-28) tied with Afghanistan 187 in 19.4 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 84, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Lungi Ngidi 3-26, Keshav Maharaj 1-27)

First Super Over - Tied

Afghanistan - 17/0 in 6 balls

South Africa - 17/1 in 6 balls

Second Super Over - South Africa win by 4 runs

South Africa - 23/0 in 6 balls

Afghanistan - 19/2 in 6 balls