Afghanistan vs South Africa, 42nd Match at Ahmedabad, World Cup 2023, Nov 10 2023 - Match Result

10:11pm Right. That brings us to the end of our coverage for this game. A double-header is lined up tomorrow, though, meaning that the World Cup action does not stop. Australia will take on Bangladesh in the early game, before England clash with Pakistan later in the day. Do join us for both of those games but for now, this is me (Shashwat) signing off on behalf of Chandan, Ranjith, Sreshth and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo. Goodbye, goodnight and take care!

Temba Bavuma, South Africa captain: (On his injury) Obviously my leg is sore. Don't know to what extent but it is going to have to be fine, at least in my eyes. I obviously had that option of coming off but it was our last group stage game, and I wanted to be out there with the guys. Was an opportunity to spend some time in the middle and I did not want to let it go. Wanted to keep marshalling the guys, keep strengthening the relationship with our bowlers. It was a risk but I felt it was the right move (to stay on). Winning is a habit, so, we want to take that momentum through. Today we did a few things different. We batted second today. To get over the line in that manner, that is going to give us a lot of confidence. Fantastic knock by Rassie, he took ownership and the guys batted around him. (On the opposition lower order scoring runs) Not really (a concern). The wicket got better. When Keshav came back for his second spell, it was not gripping and spinning as much. Gerald also came in and took wickets, always a huge plus. We can always pick on the different phases and we can think of things to improve, but we will take the win. (On if they are dreaming of a maiden World Cup triumph) Yeah, definitely. We would want to play here (in Ahmedabad) again, in front of a full capacity crowd, and it will be a different experience playing in front of a hundred thousand fans. Before that, we have Australia. We will enjoy today and from tomorrow, we will start training our minds for that clash.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan captain: (How he looks back at their campaign) As a captain, I am quite happy with our performances. We fought till the last moment in each and every game. We had good matches and had some good learnings for the future too. (On the batting department) Proud of the way our batters performed in this tournament. We were struggling before the World Cup. So, we sat together and talked about our weaknesses. In the end, you saw how our batters did and it is a positive sign for the future. Everyone knows we have good spinners. If we go with the same momentum that we had in the batting department this World Cup, we will do well. We gave a good message to the world. We played big teams and we fought till the last moment, even if we lost. Even the Australia game was in our hand but it was shocking the way Maxwell batted. I was very shocked, but there were lots of learnings too.

Rassie van der Dussen, Player of the Match: We were happy with bowling first, we would have chased anyway. They have a quality bowling attack and we wanted to put ourselves in a tough situation. Maybe one or two things we can tweak, but happy with how the run-chase went. In any chase, there has to be someone who plays an anchor role. The openers set things up nicely. We know what our batting line-up can do. Had some good partnerships in the middle and happy to get across the finish line. Sometimes, when you do one thing so well, and the other part is not so good, people say you are doing it badly. We are probably 50-50 when chasing and we would like to improve that, of course. Going into the semi-final, this is what we wanted to do and it worked out well. (On the different surfaces) Kolkata was a lot drier and lower. Having played there, we know what to expect. Hopefully if we get back here, it will presumably play pretty similar.

Maqsood : "47.2 was so much of Klusener against Aussies in the semis of 1999 I believe "

9:52pm South Africa get the job done. Not quite in the swashbuckling manner that they would have hoped, but having given up the initiative at different junctures in the middle overs, they will be happy to have come through unscathed. van der Dussen was the standout performer. He kept things ticking from the moment he arrived, and never let the pressure get to him. He was there at the end too, ensuring that there were no further hiccups.

Earlier, de Kock got South Africa off to a decent start, even as Bavuma struggled for rhythm and fitness. Markram, Klaasen and Miller all got starts but were not able to convert, meaning that the onus fell on van der Dussen and Phehlukwayo. The latter, playing in his first game this World Cup, began scratchily against spin but found his feet against the pace of Naveen, eventually finishing with 39 and forging a 65-run partnership with van der Dussen.

As for Afghanistan, they just did not have enough runs to work with in the end. They did well, though, to keep South Africa's scoring rate under check and drag the game this far. Rashid and Nabi picked up two wickets apiece, with the other wicket falling to Mujeeb. Noor was a little off-colour, especially with his length, as was Naveen. In a sub-250 run-chase, that was what came back to haunt Afghanistan.

Take nothing away from what they have accomplished this World Cup, though. Not many would have expected them to beat England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, yet, each of those victories was achieved with relative ease. They also found themselves in a great position against Australia, and made things very tough for South Africa, falling just a little short on both occasions.

19 runs have come off the last two overs and that has released a bit of pressure. Just 14 needed off 18 now

Noor is back. Can he break this game open?

Less than run-a-ball needed now. 25 off 26

43 balls since the last boundary...

Naveen to bowl the 46th. 33 needed off 30

Second slip comes in now. Rashid goes back over the wicket

Around the wicket now. Slip remains