South Africa look forward to reach the World Cup semi-finals, Faf du Plessis said it will not be possible unless they will win all of their remaining games, following their victory over Afghanistan.
The South African side lost their first three matches, but that didn’t snap-off hope of soaring higher from them as the outcome in Cardiff was better. Imran Tahir took four wickets as South Africa bundled Afghanistan out for a meagre 125 before cantering to victory by nine wickets.
READ MORE: Juventus Pays Compensation To End Sarri’s Contract At Chelsea
Proteas skipper Du Plessis said in confidence that his players had stepped-up their game in the match, which was reduced to 48 overs per side after two rain delays.
“Hopefully this is a real confidence booster for everyone on the team. And there’s a little bit of weight that you feel that’s off your shoulders now, so now the guys, we know what’s lying ahead. We need to win every game that we play. But today was a really good step in the right direction.” he said.
Meanwhile, South Africa, missing injured paceman Dale Steyn, lost to England, Bangladesh and India before they finally picked up a point in the match against the West Indies.
The Saturday victory has brought the South African side seventh position in the 10-team table after five matches but their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals by reaching the top four are not quite bright, mostly when they will still have to face New Zealand and Australia in their remaining four matches.
Looks like the Afghanistan team lack what was needed to fight back, as they opened way for South African team to continue chasing their target until victory was achieved.
Hashim Amla (41 not out) and Quinton de Kock (68), put on 104 for the first wicket before Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib had De Kock caught by Mohammad Nabi.
READ MORE: Messi Is Sports World’s Highest Earner According To Forbes (See List)
Amla and Andile Phehlukwayo saw South Africa over the line as they reached their revised target of 127 in the 29th over.
On marking the end of Afghanistan Nabi said, “We didn’t expect that spell from Tahir. We did well against the seamers but the batsmen didn’t take responsibility in the middle. We need a good total on the board so we needed a partnership. We made a lot of mistakes. We have a lot of batsmen in the team. We need in the middle of the innings them to push the scoreboard up.”
