World Cup 2023 | Afghanistan, South Africa seek morale-boosting win

Afgh. hope 4 semis dashed by NZ win; need spirited performance vs. SA. Afghans: batters impressive, spinners need to step up. SA: Bavuma needs to find form, de Kock, Klaasen, Markram stepped up; Maharaj go-to-bowler, Shamsi an option.

The Afghanistan cricketers and support staff spent their entire Thursday afternoon living on hope and a prayer.

They had to address a sponsored event, but the eyes of the entourage frequently darted towards their smartphone screens to find out about the scores of the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka World Cup fixture in Bengaluru.

By the time they reached the Narendra Modi Stadium for their optional training session on the eve of the last group league fixture against South Africa, Afghanistan’s hopes were dented further.

With New Zealand pulling off a convincing win against Sri Lanka and inching closer to the semifinals, in all practicality, the campaign seems over for the Afghans.

Even though, mathematically, there are some vague chances, Afghanistan’s net run rate of -0.338 is the worst among the three teams - New Zealand, Pakistan being the other two - vying for the fourth slot in the semifinals.

So far in the tournament, the team racked up four wins - including the ones against England and Pakistan - and as captain Hashmatullah Shahidi stated, it would be hoping to make a strong statement against South Africa, which has already reached the semifinals.

The Afghans need to pick themselves up from the improbable defeat and put up a spirited performance. The batters - Ibrahim Zadran, Shahidi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz - have all been impressive in the tournament, but a lot lies on the spinners, and at a venue that’s familiar to Rashid Khan, who plays for Gujarat Titans in the IPL, he needs to play a significant role. So far in the tournament, Rashid hasn’t been in his element and has struggled to find breakthroughs.