Quinton de Kock's cult following was out in force in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Maybe not quite in force. But at least a half-dozen were all aglow in their yellow No. 12 Proteas' shirts outside gate No. 1 at the Narendra Modi stadium an hour or so before the start of South Africa's T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan.

They looked Indian to a man - they were all men - and ignored the strategically situated India shirt sellers nearby. QdK cultists or not, it must seem odd to be Indian and support a team - or even one player in that team - when the opposition wear blue. This is a country where, when India play, the stands are filled to bursting with people in the same colour; albeit of a different shade.

Makes you wonder: what do the cultists wear when India are at home to South Africa? We will likely have the answer to that question as soon as February 22, when - if things pan out the way they should - those teams will meet in a Super Eight showdown right here at the world's biggest cricket ground. Wearing yellow might not be so mellow that day, what with more than 100,000 blue brigades lurking.

There was no such danger on Wednesday. Skilled, plucky Afghanistan are an admired team and Rashid Khan is an adopted son in these parts through his time with Gujarat Titans. But this was about cricket, not notions of patriotism.

And quite some cricket match was seen by the smattering of spectators dotted around the vast bowl not much more frequently than mustard seeds on a plate of dhokla.

South Africa squandered a second-wicket stand of 114 off 61 between de Kock and Ryan Rickelton to total 187/6. De Kock scored 59 off 41 and Rickelton made 61 off 28 - 44 of them in fours and sixes. It was an authoritative partnership, all dash, dare and determination. Yet no other stand reached 30 and no-one else scored more than Dewald Brevis' 23.

No matter, South Africa's supporters would have thought. That's enough. The highest successful chase in the 10 previous T20Is at this venue was India's 166/3 against England in March 2021. But that was under lights, when bowling and fielding is made more difficult by dew. Wednesday was the first T20I played entirely here in the daytime, when bigger totals are needed.

South Africa's wasn't big enough. Not that that was apparent when Kagiso Rabada stood at the top of his run, ready to bowl what would have been the last over of the game. Afghanistan's last pair were at the crease with 13 needed. It was South Africa's game to lose...

Rabada, of all people, overstepped with his first effort. Then he bowled a leg-side wide. So the free hit remained. Noor launched it to long off, where Marco Jansen dropped what wouldn't have been a catch.

No run. And a good thing, too, for the Afghans. Because Noor put the next delivery over square leg for six. He muscled the following ball to long-on, but waved the onrushing No. 11, Fazalhaq Farooqi, back to the non-striker's end.

Noor took two to long-on off what turned out to be another no-ball, leaving two needed off three with a free hit to come. But the next ball would be the last of the innings - Noor hit it to long-off, and Farooqi was run out, only just, by Jansen's throw and some smart work by Rabada. Match tied.

Super Overs are, of course, contrived. But they're a better way to decide matches than bowl-outs. So how about two of them?

Ngidi, rather than the no doubt chastened Rabada, bowled the first. Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz faced. Seventeen runs resulted. Then David Miller and Dewald Brevis emerged to face Farooqi. Another 17 runs resulted, at the cost of the wicket of Brevis - who pulled a slower ball into short fine leg's hands. Forcing another Super Over...

At which point the Afghans' minds must have gone back to the Chinnaswamy in January 2024, when their match against India also went to a second Super Over. To say they lost that game would be unkind. The teams each scored 16 off the first. India's second lasted only five balls because they lost Rinku Singh and Sanju Samson, which means the over is over. Afghanistan needed 11 to win. But Ravi Bishnoi had Mohammad Nabi caught at long-off with the first ball and Gurbaz taken on the same boundary with third. All for the addition of a single.

Would things be different this time?

Out came Tristan Stubbs and Miller to face Azmatullah, who flew for 23 runs. Stubbs hit one six and Miller two. They weren't the only blows over the boundary we would see in the rest of the match.

Suddenly Keshav Maharaj appeared. Not Ngidi. Not Jansen. Not even Rabada. Nabi took a mighty swing at the first ball and missed. He slashed the next to point, where Miller held the catch. In walked Gurbaz with a menacing roll of the shoulders. Even so, the Afghans needed sixes off each of the remaining four deliveries. South Africa had enough, surely...

They still did after Gurbaz hit a straight six down the ground. And when he sent another screaming over long-on. But when he sent another six arching over mid-wicket, South Africa could no longer be sure they had enough. One ball left. Six to get...

Maharaj went quicker and flatter. And wider. Wide enough to be called wide. One ball left. Five to get...

Spinners don't often bowl yorkers. Then again, matches don't often go to two Super Overs. Maharaj fired at the base of the stumps. Gurbaz dug it out, but only as far as point, where Miller clung to another catch.

Not before time, the game was over. The South Africans whooped and wheeled about the place like a flock of seagulls that had happened upon a fully-laden fishing trawler. Gurbaz hammered his bat into the turf and stalked off furious. Anyone in his path would have been well advised to get out of the man's way.

The QdK cultists must have gone home happy. Not only had they seen their man bat well, they had seen his team all but win, then all but lose, then tie, then tie again, then, finally, win. As they melted into the golden afternoon sunshine, their yellow was mellow again.