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Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in the semifinal one of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup at Tarouba on Thursday.
Proteas and Afghanistan are battling it out for a first-ever final appearance in a ICC World Cup across both ODI and T20I formats. South Africa finished the group stage unbeaten in Group two, while Afghanistan finished at number two behind India in Group one, with two wins, including a historic one over Australia and a loss. South Africa will be aiming to put behind a winless streak of seven ICC World Cup semifinals behind them and reach finals while Afghanistan will be aiming to continue their giant-slaying ways and beat yet another big team. Afghanistan skipper Rashid said at the toss, "We would like to bat first, it's a fresh wicket and we will like to have a good total on the board. The middle-order has not got much time in the middle, they have to come out in the 15-16th over and it is not easy. It is good that the top-order has taken responsibility and they have batted very well. When you have a 4-hour delay flight, it is not easy. Does not matter if you sleep 1 hour, you have to be at your best. We are going with the same lineup." SA skipper Aiden Markram said, "We would have probably batted first as well but it's a fresh wicket and we are not too upset about bowling first. We haven't nailed it quite with the bat yet, conditions have been tough. Hopefully, we will do well with the bat and in the field and step up in the semi-final. Same team for us." Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan(c), Nangeyalia Kharote, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi. (ANI)
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