Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers has congratulated South Africa cricket team for qualifying for their first ever final in World Cup history after beating Afghanistan in T20 World Cup 2024 semi final 1.
Legendary South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers congratulated his national side for reaching their first ever final in World Cup history on Thursday, June 27. Notably, South Africa hammered Afghanistan by nine wickets in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad and sealed their berth in the final.
It will be the first-ever appearance of the rainbow nation in the summit clash of a World Cup event as they failed to qualify for the finals despite seven semi-final appearances in the event. Reacting on the historic achievement of his country, De Villiers congratulated the team and said that they’ve made the country proud. The former South Africa captain also backed the team to go all the way and win the trophy irrespective of which team they face.
“The boys are through to the finals. What an incredible achievement, well done Proteas. You’ve made us all proud, onwards and upwards. Never been in a final of the World Cup so new territory for all of us. As fans we’re right behind you guys and we cannot wait to watch you play that final whether it’s against India or England, we’ got your backs and we do believe you’ve got what it takes to go all the way . Also Happpy Birthday to Dale Steyn, maybe very special birthday gift from you guys to him,” said De Villiers in a video shared on his X account.
Congrats to @ProteasMenCSA on getting to the #t20worldcup2024 Final! Let’s get that trophy now, boys! 🏆 💪 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/7rke3amoiz
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) June 27, 2024
South Africa bowlers blow away Afghanistan
Coming back to the South Africa vs Afghanistan semi-final, after opting to bat first, Afghanistan struggled to come to terms with the difficult pitch in Trinidad. They lost their in-form openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (0 off 3) and Ibrahim Zadran (2 off 5) cheaply with just 20 runs on the board.
From there onwards, there was no coming back for the first-time semi-finalists who got bundled out for the lowest-ever score in the history of the knockout stages of the T20 World Cup being bundled out for just 56. Marco Jansen (3/16) and Tabraiz Shamsi (3/6) picked up three wickets each for South Africa.
In reply, the Proteas lost Quinton de Kock early but Reeza Hendricks (29* off 25) and Aiden Markram (23* off 21) guided their team home in 8.5 overs and won the match by nine wickets.
