South Africa rout Afghanistan to reach their first men’s T20 World Cup final

South Africa broke their semi-final curse by routing Afghanistan by nine wickets on Wednesday but there was more criticism of the pitches and schedule of this World Cup.

Afghanistan were blown away for just 56 on a poor surface in Trinidad that was cracked, caused variable bounce throughout and was just not fit for such a high profile match.

“It’s a naughty, naughty pitch,” said former England bowler Steven Finn on Test Match Special. “It was ugly really. The pitch just deteriorated and it led to not a great spectacle for a T20 game. It would have been fascinating on day five of a Test match but for a T20, it wasn’t up to scratch. I feel sorry for Afghanistan that they’re going out under these circumstances. It doesn’t quite seem fair.”

The pitch in Trinidad resembled the poor tracks in New York at the start of the tournament where in seven matches the team batting first made a highest score of just 137.

It was heartbreaking for Afghanistan, who defied the odds to reach the last four, knocking out Australia along the way. “It was a tough night for us as a team and we could’ve done better than that. But conditions didn’t let us do that but you should be mentally ready for any situation,” said their captain, Rashid Khan. “It is learning for us as a team, we will come back and do better than this.”

Afghanistan were bowled out in 11.5 overs for their lowest T20 score with just one batsman reaching double figures and extras the top score.

The first ball of the South Africa reply rolled through to the keeper, the second lifted nastily off the same length and struck Quinton de Kock on the body. South Africa survived a few scares to knock off their total with 67 balls to spare, winning a semi-final of a World Cup for the first time at the seventh attempt.

It was tough on Afghanistan, who were exhausted by the tense wins over Australia and Bangladesh that sealed their first semi-final appearance.

Afghanistan had no answer to South Africa’s strong attack. They were five down in the powerplay with left-armer Marco Jansen taking three for 16. Kagiso Rabada struck twice in his first over and leg spinner Tabraiz Shamsi finished it off with three for six in 11 balls.

Afghanistan’s last Super Eights game ended after midnight on Monday and they only landed in Trinidad 24 hours before the semi-final. Their flight from St Vincent was delayed by four hours and both teams only had one practice session before the game.

“So Afghanistan qualify for the World Cup semi winning in St Vincent on Monday night ... 4 hr flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue ... utter lack of respect to players i am afraid,” wrote Michael Vaughan on social media.

The knockout stages have been squeezed into just five days from the end of the Super Eights to Saturday’s final in Barbados.

England and India meet in Guyana on Thursday having arrived in the country with just one day of preparation at a venue that has not been used for nearly three weeks.

The winners will be whisked out of Guyana on a charter flight to Barbados straight after the game and will have one day to prepare for Saturday morning’s final that starts at 10.30am in Bridgetown.