Proteas bowler Lungi Ngidi celebrates during South Africa's T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan. (Proteas Men/X)
The Proteas and T20 World Cup drama have long been reluctant bedfellows but at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, they elevated their chaotic relationship to a stratospheric new level.
In a match that refused to end, featuring late-inning meltdowns, two Super Overs, and a final ball that felt like a lifetime in the making, South Africa eventually emerged victorious over Afghanistan, a victory that felt less like a sporting triumph and more like an exorcism.
For Aiden Markram’s men, this was the “maddest game in World Cup history.” For the Proteas faithful, it was another taxing instalment of the “Cardiac Kids” saga, albeit one with a rare, celebratory ending.
While the spotlight often follows the speed of Kagiso Rabada or the spin of Keshav Maharaj, it was Lungi Ngidi who provided the bedrock for South Africa’s survival. Fresh off a match-winning performance against Canada, Ngidi was again the standout, finishing with figures of 3/26 that masked the sheer intensity of the contest.
The right-arm quick was the architect of Afghanistan’s early stutters, castling Ibrahim Zadran with a peach of a delivery before completing a clinical caught-and-bowled to remove Gulbadin Naib. Yet, despite his heroics, the match went to a Super Over.
“I’ve lost so much weight today. I’ve never been that stressed in my life in a cricket game,” a smiling but clearly drained Ngidi said during the post-match presentation. He admitted that the pressure of being the designated Super Over option had been weighing on him long before the 40th over ended. “I knew I was probably going to be the option. The captain just said to keep doing the same thing.”
The Rabada Nightmare
The game should never have reached that stage. Having set a competitive 187/6 thanks to blistering half-centuries from Quinton de Kock (59) and Ryan Rickelton (61), the Proteas had Afghanistan on the ropes. Even with Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s sensational 84, keeping the Afghans in the hunt, Ngidi’s disciplined spell seemed to have slammed the door shut.
Then came the 20th over. Rabada, South Africa’s spearhead, suffered a technical malfunction at the worst possible moment. When Noor Ahmad sliced a ball to Markram at cover, the Proteas thought they had sealed it. Instead, the dreaded siren of a front-foot no-ball—the “whooping” sound Ngidi later described as the most stressful noise in sports—rang out.
“I let myself down in that first over,” Ngidi candidly remarked about his own earlier expensive start but it was the collective “scrap” of the final overs that defined the day. Rabada’s over was a blur of no-balls and wides, only for the match to end in a tie when Afghanistan panicked and suffered a run-out off a free hit.
What followed was a masterclass in tension. Ngidi, tasked with the first Super Over, conceded 17 runs as Azmatullah Omarzai targeted the boundaries. “I almost got a wicket again with the slower balls but it just wasn’t to be in the Super Over,” Ngidi noted. In response, Tristan Stubbs smashed a six off the final ball of the over to force a second tie-break.
In the second Super Over, with Ngidi ineligible to bowl, the veterans took charge. David Miller clubbed two massive sixes to set Afghanistan a daunting 24-run target. The responsibility fell to Keshav Maharaj. Gurbaz, the man of the hour, struck three consecutive sixes off Maharaj to bring the equation down to five off one. Maharaj stuck to his plan—a wide, spinning delivery that Gurbaz could only squeeze to Miller at long-on.
The Aftermath
“The captain said it was going to be a scrap but I didn’t know it was going to be that much of a scrap,” Ngidi laughed. His tactical adjustments—informed by feedback from Miller and Stubbs that the pitch was “gripping” for slower balls—proved to be the difference.
While the victory keeps the Proteas firmly in contention for a top-two finish in Group D, it also exposes familiar fragilities. “You’re already under pressure in these tournaments, so it doesn’t help when you put yourself under even more,” Markram noted. For now, South Africa will take the points and the relief. In a tournament of “Absolute Cinema,” the Proteas have just directed the year’s most harrowing blockbuster.
Scorecard Summary:
South Africa: 187/6 (Rickelton 61, De Kock 59; Omarzai 3/41)
Afghanistan: 187 all out (Gurbaz 84, Ngidi 3/26)
Super Over 1: AFG 17/0; SA 17/1
Super Over 2: SA 23/0; AFG 19/2
Result: South Africa won via the second Super Over.