South Africa beat Afghanistan by 9 wickets
South Africa finally ended their losing streak as the Proteas put on a clinical show in Cardiff to beat Afghanistan by 9 wickets on Saturday. Imran Tahir once again starred with his bowling as his 4/29 helped South Africa bundle out Afghanistan for 125. Rain interrupted play which saw the overs being reduced to 48, where after a slight shower saw Afghanistan collapse and practically throw the match away. (Match Highlights)
Quinton de Kock hit 68, including eight fours, and Hashim Amla was 41 not out in South Africa's 131/1 in 28.4 overs in reply to Afghanistan's 125 all out in 34.1 overs. Because of two rain disruptions, the match was reduced to 48 overs per team with South Africa chasing a winning target of 127. (Match Scorecard)
Andile Phehlukwayo (17 not out) sealed victory by smashing the only six of the game.
Amla was cautious but effective in his 83-ball knock which took him to within 24 of the 8,000 ODI runs milestone.
De Kock's innings lasted 72 balls and he shared an opening partnership of 104 with Amla before he was caught by Mohammad Nabi off the bowling of Gulbadin Naib in the 23rd over. It was South Africa's first century stand of the tournament.
After defeats to England, Bangladesh and India, and a washout against West Indies, this was a must-win game for four-time semifinalist South Africa.
But it still looks unlikely to advance to the final four. South Africa is level on three points in the bottom half of the table with West Indies, Bangladesh and Pakistan but has played one more game.
South Africa now jump to the sixth spot with the win while Afghanistan remain at the bottom of the table.
Earlier, put in to bat, Afghanistan were all out for 125 in 34.1 overs after collapsing from 69/2. Two rain breaks reduced the game to 48 overs with the DLS method slightly adjusting the winning target for the South Africans.
The 40-year-old spinner Imran Tahir did most of the damage, finishing with 4/29 off seven overs. He also preserved his record as the only spinner at this World Cup to have bowled more than 100 overs and not been hit for a six. Afghanistan struck 15 boundaries but no sixes.
Seamer Chris Morris was even meaner than Tahir, taking 3/13 in 6.1 overs, and Andile Phehlukwayo finished with 2/18 from eight overs.
The Afghans had hoped to use all their batting overs for the first time this tournament and, before the second break for rain, appeared on the brink of building a reasonable score.
However, they lost four wickets in 10 balls for a single run at one stage and stumbled to 77/7 off 25.2 overs before staging a mini-recovery as Ikram Ali Khil and Rashid Khan shared a 34-run partnership for the eighth wicket.
Rashid top-scored for Afghanistan with 35 off 25 balls, including six boundaries, followed by Noor Ali Zadran's 32 runs off 58. Both men fell to Tahir.
