16;20: That’s it! It’s all over, mainly thanks to Rassie van der Dussen who guided South Africa through their wobbles to a five-wicket victory over Afghanistan.
Van der Dussen’s unbeaten 76 saw the Proteas home with two overs to spare as they chased down a target of 245.
Afghanistan gave it their best shot to try and book a last-minute place in the knock out stages, but they really gave themselves enough of a target to defend.
15:00: Hello, it’s suddenly game on as Afghanistan nick a couple of South African batsmen out with Rashid Khan breaking through.
Aiden Markram fell at 116, having added exactly 50 with Rassie van de Dussen,, and danger man Heinrich Klaasen departed 23 runs later, bowled by Khan.
South Africa are still in charge, but the two quick wickets have given Afghanistan a sniff.
14:00: Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen look to restore some calm and sensibility after South Africa lost openers Quinton de Kock and skipper Temba Bavuma in quick succession.
The openers take South Africa’s reply to 64 where Bavuma is caught, and two runs later de Kock was trapped leg before by Mohammed Nabi.
Aided by a van der Dussen maximum off Rashid Khan, South Africa are in a comfortable position, and 129 runs off 27 overs with eight wickets in hand should not present too much of a problem.
12:30: Azmatullah is stranded on 97 as Afghanistan cobble together 244.
The Afghani batsman had three balls of the final over to reach three figures but was unable to conjure up the runs needed and saw partner Naveen run out off the last ball of their innings.
Reduced to 116-6, it didn’t look like Afghanistan would get anything close to 244, with Coetzee the pick of the South African bowlers with four wickets.
A target of 245 at least Afghanistan’s bowlers something to defend.
11:52: A bit late to the party, but here’s a live mini-blog on the SA v Afghanistan CWC Group match.
Afghanistan technically still have an interest as a win could earn them a semi-final spot on a superior run rate to New Zealand.
But that’s looking a tad unlikely as after winning the toss and deciding to bat, Afghanistan are wallowing at 187-7 with seven overs left.
Azmatullah is unbeaten on 67 and while he is in the middle, Afghanistan have faint hopes of setting a remotely competitive target for South Africa to chase.
Several Afghani batsmen got starts, but could not push on with Ngidi, Coetzee and Maharaj all grabbing two wickets for a South Africa team which has already booked its semi-final spot.
