AHMEDABAD: If South Africa were looking to correct an anomaly in their current World Cup campaign, the contest against Afghanistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday allowed them to tick an important box: ace a chase. At 182-5 after 37.1 overs in pursuit of 245, South Africa seemed to be in a familiar spot of bother. This was followed by 45 boundary-less balls. The perennial ghosts of chasing were hanging like a sword over their head. With allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo struggling for timing and unable to rotate the strike regularly along with Rassie van der Dussen, it seemed like they had bottled up another run chase.
But, once the southpaw struck pacer Naveenul-Haq for a six over mid-off in the 46th over, the shackles were broken. He smashed the pacer for two more sixes and a boundary to finish the chase off in style with five wickets in hand and 15 balls remaining. Giving him company at the other end was Van der Dussen who showed what South Africa had been missing in chases: a calm head. His unbeaten 76 (95b; 4x6, 6x1) was the cornerstone of South African innings as other batters batted aggressively around him.
