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South Africa have set a big target of 188 runs for Afghanistan in match 13 of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, being played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, Afghanistan's bowlers managed to keep South African batters quiet for the first three overs. Fazalhaq Farooqi drew first blood, dismissing South Africa captain Aiden Markram off a slower ball that he mistimed to mid-off. Despite the early wicket, Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickleton picked up the pace and took South Africa to 43/1 in powerplay. The left-handed duo continued in the same vein even after the fielding restrictions were off, hitting freely to power South Africa to 98/1 after 10 overs, including 23 runs off the 10th over. They put South Africa in command with a 116-run stand in just 61 balls. De Kock brought up his fifty with a pull for four, scoring 59 runs in 41 balls. Ryan Rickleton was even more devastating, scoring 61 in just 28 balls, with the help of five fours and four sixes. De Kock also overtook AB de Villiers for making the highest runs for South Africa in the T20 World Cups. He now has 737 runs, in comparison to de Villiers' 717 runs. Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan stalled the South African progress as he sent back both De Kock and Rickleton in the space of three balls. Tristan Stubbs failed to score big and could only make one run before Azmatullah Omarzai dismissed him. Dewald Brevis (23 off 19 balls) and David Miller (20 not out off 15 balls) helped the Proteas keep the momentum as Marco Jansen's 16 off seven balls took South Africa to 187/6 in 20 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai took three wickets, as Rashid Khan grabbed a brace. Fazalhaq Farooqi also picked up a wicket. Now, Afghanistan need to make 188 runs in 20 overs to win this match. (ANI)
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