South Africa vs Afghanistan Predictions - De Kock to dash Afghanistan’s final hopes

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 25 Jun 2024

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Simon Lewis 25 Jun 2024

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South Africa vs Afghanistan tips for Thursday’s T20 Cricket World Cup semi-final (02:30 AM SAST)
Quinton de Kock has scored 74 & 65 in his last two innings.
Can Afghanistan beat South Africa for the first time to go through to their first World Cup final?

Expired

Quinton de Kock hits a four against the West Indies. (credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Getty Images)

South Africa vs Afghanistan Predictions

Afghanistan have lost just two matches in this World Cup, but they have never beaten South Africa in T20s. South Africa have a world-class bowling attack and a power-packed top order so they should be too strong for Afghanistan.

South Africa’s Quinton de Kock (199 runs) is 6th in the T20 World Cup runs list.
South Africa’s David Miller has scored 59*, 29 & 43 in his last 6 innings.
Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz has scored 76, 80, 60 & 43 in his last 7 innings.
Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran has scored 70, 44, 38 & 51 in his last 7 innings.

Head-to-Head

South Africa have beaten Afghanistan in both of their previous two meetings.

South Africa Form

South Africa made it seven wins in a row when they beat the West Indies by eight runs in their final Super 8 match.

The West Indies struggled on a tough pitch to score 135/8 off their 20 overs. Tabraiz Shamsi made a triumphant return to the side, taking 3/27 to knock over half of the West Indies’ top six.

South Africa got off to a storming start but lost wickets regularly. With their target reduced after a rain delay, Tristan Stubbs added a vital 29 but it was left to Marco Jansen (21*) to see South Africa home with a six with five balls to spare.

South Africa Team News

South Africa’s bowling is on fire, but their batting is inconsistent. Their only option is Ryan Rickleton, who hasn’t played in the World Cup.

Afghanistan Form

After losing to the West Indies and then India on the bounce, Afghanistan followed up by beating Australia and Bangladesh to qualify for their first World Cup semi-final.

Afghanistan struggled to post 115/5, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (43) again performing with the bat.

Bangladesh’s innings was a tense affair with a number of rain delays, but Naveen-ul-Haq (4/26) and Rashid Khan (4/23) proved too hot to handle and Bangladesh were rolled for 105 off 17.5 overs.