ICC T20 World Cup 2024: [WATCH]- Anrich Nortje And Rashid Khan Engage In A Heated Confrontation

Tensions escalated at some stage during the 2024 T20 World Cup semifinal between South Africa and Afghanistan in Trinidad on Wednesday, June 26. Afghan captain Rashid Khan encountered verbal aggression from Anrich Nortje when he arrived at the crease.

The incident occurred in the seventh over of Afghanistan’s innings, with Nortje attempting to unsettle Rashid by making remarks on the last two balls of the over. Visibly upset by Nortje’s behaviour, Rashid approached South African skipper Aiden Markram for a discussion.

You can watch the video of the heated exchange below:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ICC Hindi (@icchindiofficial)

Nortje emerged positive in his contest with Rashid, dismissing him with a blazing delivery in the 11th over that shattered his off-stump.

Afghanistan had secured the toss and opted to bat first inside the semi-finals, but their plan backfired as their wickets tumbled rapidly. They have been all out for an insignificant 56, with Azmatullah Omarzai being the most effective player to attain double figures, scoring 10.

Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi each claimed three wickets, while Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada took two wickets each. South Africa chased down the low target in just 8.5 overs, securing a nine-wicket victory and advancing to the 2024 T20 World Cup final.

“The conditions didn’t allow us to do what we wanted” – Rashid Khan comments on Afghanistan’s batting collapse

In the post-match presentation, Rashid Khan talked about Afghanistan’s problems in implementing their strategies all throughout the 2024 T20 World Cup semifinals, citing that the challenging situations performed a function of their struggles.

Rashid stated: “It was tough, tough for us as a team. We might have done better but the conditions didn’t allow us to do what we wanted. That’s how T20 cricket is, you need to be ready for all conditions. I think they bowled really well.”

The 25-year-old expressed his view that despite Afghanistan’s memorable T20 World Cup campaign, there was room for improvement as a batting unit, emphasizing:

“It is just the beginning for us, we have the confidence and belief to beat any side. We just need to keep our processes. This has been a great learning experience for us. What we take from the competition is the belief.”

“We know we have the skills, it is just about managing tough situations, pressure situations. Some work to be done, specially in the middle order to take the innings deep. As I said, it is always learning for our team and we have achieved good results so far but we will come back doing more hard work, specially in the batting department.”

South Africa will compete in their inaugural World Cup final, awaiting the winner of the second semifinal between India and England for the championship match on Saturday, June 29th.

Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.