Morkel seals Super Eights berth for South Africa
06-May-2010
Morne Morkel helped skittle out Afghanistan for 80 • AFP
Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn delivered Afghanistan a harsh lesson by demolishing them for 80 to end their World Twenty20 dream and hand South Africa a safe path to the Super Eights. There was no mercy from Morkel and Steyn, whose speed and bounce was simply of a standard that Afghanistan had never faced before, and Charl Langeveldt chipped in with three wickets to confirm the result.
Steyn (2 for 6) beat the bat with his outswing and had Noor Ali caught behind for a duck in the first over, before Morkel ran through the middle order to finish with 4 for 20. The batsmen struggled to react to the quality bowling and especially the short deliveries, and six of the ten dismissals were caught behind the wicket.
Morkel began by dismissing Afghanistan captain Nowroz Mangal to leave the opposition reeling at 7 for 3. He struck three balls later to remove opener Karim Sadiq, and snapped up Raeez Ahmadzai and Mohammad Nabi in quick time. Had it not been for some resistance from the lower order, Afghanistan would have struggled to go past 50 - they were 32 for 8 at one stage.