South Africa vs Afghanistan, 13th Match, Group D, ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

How do these players do it? Even to just watch a game like this is such nerve-wracking stuff, how do they execute those skills under pressure? Imagine how Afghanistan must be feeling to come out on the losing side after a game like that. So many moments they'll look back on and ponder over the what-ifs. They needed 2 off 3 balls in the main game with a free hit to come. Then in the Super Over the equation to defend was 7 runs off 1 ball. How did it slip away? It's games like these where heroes are made. South Africa found theirs in Tristan Stubbs and David Miller, but don't forget about Rahmanullah Gurbaz. What a knock he played and what a part Afghanistan played to conjure up one of the greatest T20Is of all time. Unfortunately it may not be enough to keep them in this World Cup for the Super Eights. A game for which they prepared for one and a half years, and to lose it in such crushing fashion. Heartbreaking stuff. But that's how it is. The action rolls on and the coverage shifts to the game between Australia and Ireland in Colombo. But the mind will linger in Ahmedabad. That's it from here. Goodbye!

Stats by Shashikant Singh

Tied matches in the T20 WCs
IND vs PAK, Durban, 2007
SL vs NZ, Pallekele, 2012
NZ vs WI, Pallekele, 2012
NAM vs OMA, Bridgetown, 2024
USA vs PAK, Dallas, 2024
SA vs AFG, Ahmedabad, 2026*

South Africa tied games result (T20I)
Won vs SL, Cape Town, 2019
Won vs AFG, Ahmedabad, 2026 WC

Afghanistan tied games result (T20I)
Lost vs IRE, Noida, 2020
Lost vs IND, Bengaluru, 2024 (in 2nd super over)
Lost vs SA, Ahmedabad, 2026 WC (in 2nd super over)

Aiden Markram | South African captain: "It's quite hard to sum that all up there Rav [Shastri]. Suppose, it's a tough competition - teams put you under immense pressure. And I think, when you start putting yourselves under pressure, then you are gonna make life really hard for yourselves. So a couple of lessons that we can learn. Not at our best in a few areas which is suppose exciting. There's a room for improvement, that we can be better and ultimately you are grateful for the win and for the points. (on the choices to bowl in the Super Over) That was it. Ultimately in Super Overs you're probably picking your most confident guy. The guy who has done really well throughout the game. It was Lungi. Didn't miss by much in that first over but they still got a really good total. Shows you it's really small margins at this level which is part of the learnings and the things to realise and understand. And same story with Kesh. It's tough being a spinner. Short straight, short side but we still backed him to get the job done for us. And fortunately there was a lot of runs on the board. (on the chat at the halfway stage) I said to the boys it's a decent target but we're going to have to scrap. And we have to bowl and field well. Wasn't 100 percent comfortable with it, thought we left a few out there. But you look at the bowling attack and you look at our fielding unit. And we if we can add 10-15 through good fielding and then good bowling I thought we could make a game of it. But yeah, there's areas that we can improve. Small little phases, and it adds up to a lot in this format. (on how this win can lift his side) It does. That is the big positive that you take from a game like this, you need to win your close games in a competition like this. There's the positive there. The boys that batted in the Super Over, heaps of belief and confidence that they can take there being under a lot of pressure and delivering their skills. There's that side to it absolutely and we don't want to wash that away either. (on their openers) Yeah they did. Important to get a really good start in this format and that's exactly what they did for us. Two of them have been batting really nicely, taking the game on within their strengths which is very nice to see and setting it up beautifully. So, small little phases throughout that middle and in the first two games, I think we have gone bang bang in both of them. Can tidy that up, hopefully it adds to a few more runs at the end."

Rashid Khan | Afghanistan captain: "The boys did an amazing job, especially after the way they started with the batting. 100 runs in 10 overs, one wicket. And then we restrict them under 190 was a huge effort. And then the way we started with the bat. So so unlucky at the end to be a part of losing team. But I think overall we have given all the efforts in the ground. And just a matter of the result, we haven't got the right result. (on the chase) That's what we had in the mind. This wicket is good, we played a lot in IPL on this wicket. The average score is 190-195. The discussion was there with the team that "yes they had a great start but let's just try our best to bowl last 10 overs as good as possible and restrict them under 200". And we gave ourselves the best chance to chase it. We got a best chance to chase but just to be on the wrong side. (on Gurbaz) Amazing innings, that's what he's famous for. To play his own kind of innings and destructive innings especially at the top-order. He has given us a best start. Especially in the last couple of overs in the powerplay we lost three wickets back-to-back which did really put him on the back foot as well where he tried to just keep the innings.... We little bit restrict him as well. But overall he played amazing especially in the last Super Over - I think 3 sixes and then to finish with the last 1 ball, 5, was very close. (on their oppportunities in the Super Over) We had our opportunity. Even to look into the last Super Over as well, 1 ball 5 runs it could go anyway. I think we had our opportunities. To be a little bit smarter while batting. A bit of dive, one good ball just to finish off the game. But I think there's a lot of things for us to learn from here. We only get better. Hopefully we keep that good energy around and we come back harder and harder. (on how to pick up the boys from this?) It's pretty hard. You work really hard for the last one and a half year just for this game to win it and to go for the next round. It's quite disappointing. Its pretty hard to keep them up. But still you have to come up. Any time you're representing your country is a huge proud moment. And you have to play for your pride. People back home they expecting us to win lots of games. We had not the ideal start we wanted in the World Cup. It's quite disappointing. But will try my best to keep them as up as possible. Next game we come with strong mind and with clever mind as well."

Lungi Ngidi | Player of the Match: "I've lost so much weight today. I've never been that stressed in my life in a cricket game. But I'm happy to come out on the winning side. I actually knew that I was probably going to be the option (for the Super Over). And the captain said to keep doing the same. Almost got a wicket again with the slower balls but it just wasn't to be in the Super Over. Let myself down in that first over. We had a plan that we were going to try and execute. It didn't go to plan. Leaked a few runs. So I just went back to what's been working for me in the past couple of months. With they were going I knew that they were gonna keep attacking us (in the powerplay), so it brings the slower-ball into play. The message was clear from Quinton, David and Stubbs that the ones into the wicket were gripping. So slower-balls were going to be an option. We let ourselves down a little bit in the middle there with the way we were bowling. But in the end, when I hear that type of thing, I'm kind of smiling. Captain said it was going to be a scrap but I didn't know it was going to be that much of a scrap. Being able to win two Super Overs with our hitters hitting like that. We just had to try and defend it, but very happy with that. That's a big part of T20 cricket (catching). We have seen a couple of earlier games, big dropped catches they cost you the game. So we had to make sure we are clinical in the field. And then that secures the W."

The 2nd Super Over: South Africa took the momentum as they batted first in the second Super Over - Stubbs and Miller smacked Azmatullah all over the park and looted 23 runs. Game over, you'd think. And definitely so when Nabi was dismissed for a 2-ball duck. No way would Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit 4 consecutive sixes to win the game for his team. He's no Kapil Dev or so one thought. All that Maharaj needed was to bowl one ball without getting smashed for a six. The first went over long-off, the second went over long-on and the third went over deep mid-wicket. Suddenly, they needed 6 off the last ball. Maharaj looked rattled as a wide followed - now, AFG had two choices, hit a six and win, or hit a four and a possible 3rd Super Over. Maharaj though kept his nerve and Gurbaz sliced one straight to backward point. Either side and we might've had history rewritten once again.

That 20th over and 1st Super Over: Then came the 20th over and then came Kagiso Rabada. In one of the poorest overs ever seen in the history of the T20 World Cup, South Africa's premier pacer bowled two no-balls, a wide, got smashed for a six and the equation was brought down to 2 off 3 balls with a free-hit in tow. All that Afghanistan needed was to hold their nerve. They didn't and we were treated to a Super Over. Having somehow dragged the game into a Super Over, it was Azmatullah Omarzai's time to shine as he smashed Lungi Ngidi for 17 in the over. You thought the match was over. But then came Dewald Brevis who hammered his first ball for six. But he was dismissed immediately and the equation now read 11 off 3 balls. Tristan Stubbs had very little to do in the match so far, but he came out, squirted the first ball for a boundary and was followed by a dot ball. 7 off 1, all that Farooqi had to do was to ensure against a six, but Stubbs has a reputation and he did the unthinkable. A six over long-off and we had a second Super Over.

Then began the Rahmanullah Gurbaz show - the right-hander was batting on a very different surface as he found the boundaries with regular fashion. The 50 was brought up in 4 overs. It was then followed by a mini-collapse as 51 for 0 to 52 for 3 in no time. Gurbaz though kept going and in Darwish Rasooli, he had a partner to support. South Africa though kept chipping away, dismissed both in the 13th over. Contributions from Azmatullah Omarzai and Rashid Khan took them closer, but when the 20th over began, they'd slipped to 175/9 with number 10 and 11 in the middle.

The main game summary: Heartbreak for Afghanistan. They'll look back at 19.4 in the main game and think about the margins. Could Noor have taken the single, tied the scores and trusted Farooqi to complete the win in normal time? Farooqi would be thinking if he could only run that little bit faster and avoid getting run-out? The margins were close and AFG could well be repenting for the rest of the tournament. Is their 2026 T20 WC over? They now need to beat the remaining two teams convincingly and then hope that the loser of the NZ-SA game trip up against either Canada/UAE. But that's for later. Let's come back to this match. South Africa batted first a few hours ago - Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickleton - added 114 for the second wicket before Afghanistan started to fightback. Dewald Brevis struggled, so did David Miller and Tristan Stubbs fell cheaply. But all three wouldn't have imagined that they'd have to play such a big role a few hours later. We'll speak about the Super Over (make it two) later. It meant that Afghanistan had done well to restrict South Africa to 187.

15:20 Local Time, 09:50 GMT, 15:20 IST: Have you ever seen a game like that before? In any format. Anywhere. The ones who were watching badly need a liedown. My fingers are bleeding blood. Unreal, unreal game. And after two Super Overs, we have South Africa escaping with a win. Hang on for the post-match stuff...

Ball 6 - Maharaj to Gurbaz, OUT! Caught by Miller. South Africa escape out of jail. They win the mental game by four runs. Was full and wide outside off, Gurbaz like Nabi doesn't get under it. He opens the face of the bat to carve it, but simple catch to backward point and South Africa can breathe. Gurbaz is aghast with himself. He grunts in frustration. Miller comes and taps him on his head. Maharaj is relieved. And so are the other South Africans. Trott put his head down and shook his head unable to believe what has just happened. Some can't believe it. Gurbaz goes and sits in the dugout with his hands on his head, which is down and gutted. This will go down as the greatest T20I international! Period!

A four will take it to another Super Over. Can Gurbaz do the impossible?

Ball 6 - Maharaj to Gurbaz, WIDE! Pressure. Pressure. This is way outside off, past the tramline, left alone and it's a wide. AFG 19/1

Ball 5 - Maharaj to Gurbaz, SIX! Mental! Mental! Hat-trick of sixes. It's slower and tossed up full on middle and leg, Gurbaz gets forward and clears his front leg, flicks and has so much elevation and the distance to clear deep mid-wicket. That sails away. AFG 18/1

Ball 4 - Maharaj to Gurbaz, SIX! Hang on! Hang on! Two in two. Full outside off, a half-volley and Gurbaz doesn't miss out. He gets forward and gets under this to loft all the way over long-on. Clean clean hit. Can he do the impossible? AFG 12/1

Ball 3 - Maharaj to Gurbaz, SIX! This is still not over. Not yet. On a length outside off, Gurbaz hangs back and smashes it all the way for six. Went wide of long-off and all the way. AFG 6/1

Maharaj wants umpire Sharfuddoula to stand a bit behind.

Ball 2 - Maharaj to Nabi, OUT! Caught by Miller! Good leap by Miller at backward point and he hangs on. Full and wide outside off, Nabi opens the face of the bat and carves it in the air, it's clearing Miller who leaps and takes it two-handed. He throws the ball away in delight. AFG 0/1