South Africa 139 for 7 (Kallis 34, Hamid 3-21) beat Afghanistan 80 (M Morkel 4-20, Langeveldt 3-12) by 59 runsMorne 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.
The 59-run victory showed the newcomers that, for all their incredible progress over the past couple of years, there is a long way still to go. Afghanistan's spirits were high after their bowling effort, having restricted South Africa to a respectable 139 for 7, but the chase was quickly and comprehensively derailed.
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.
That they avoided recording the a feat in itself lowest ever Twenty20 Internation cricket after they were 14 for 6, but the change bowlers proved more to their liking. Mirwais Ashraf gave Afghanistan's fans a few happy moments when he clobbered a monstrous six off Albie Morkel, before Hamid Hassan made a quick 22 from 21 balls, as the lower order cleared the boundary a combined five times.
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