Ahmedabad | Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock smashed quickfire half-centuries to put together a century stand, powering South Africa to 187 for six against Afghanistan in their second Group D match of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
Rickelton was the aggressor, scoring 61 off 28 balls, including five fours and four sixes, in a 114-run second-wicket partnership. De Kock contributed 59 off 41 balls with five boundaries and three sixes.
Sent in to bat, South Africa were dealt an early blow in the form off skipper Aiden Markram (5).
Fazalhaq Farooqi (1/32) deceived Markram with an excellent change up, with the Proteas skipper getting only toe-end of his bat as Mohammad Nabi took a simple catch at mid-off in the third over.
De Kock broke the shackles in the fourth over, clearing Mujeeb ur Rahman over the fence and then followed it up with a boundary through backward point in the next ball.
Rickelton then joined the party, hitting Azmatullah Omarzai (3/41) for two boundaries as South Africa managed just 43 for 1 in the powerplay.
Both De Kock and Rickelton pressed the accelerator button thereafter, taking on the spin duo of Mohammad Nabi and skipper Rashid Khan (2/28) with some lusty hits as they picked up boundaries and sixes at will.
Noor Ahmad, who didn't play Afghanistan's opening match against New Zealand, was taken to task by the duo as the spinner gave away 23 runs in his first over.
While de Kock welcomed Ahmad with a six over long-on, Rickelton then swept the spinner over midwicket and followed it up with two fours through covers as South Africa raced to 98 for 1 at the halfway stage.
The onslaught continued as De Kock brought up his fifth T20 World Cup fifty with a boundary off Mujeeb through midwicket and then Rickelton added salt to the bowler's wound with a maximum to score a quality fifty of just 23 balls.
It took some brilliance from Rashid and poor shot selection to break the dangerous-looking partnership with both de Kock and Rickelton departing in the 13th over.
Rashid first accounted for De Kock, caught at deep midwicket by Ibrahim Zadran and then a ball later the Afghan skipper trapped Rickelton plumb in front of the wicket with a quicker delivery that skidded on after pitching.
After the onslaught from Rickelton and de Kock, Afghanistan pulled things back to some extent with the wickets of Dewald Brevis (23 off 19), and Tristan Stubbs (1), but veteran David Miller (20 not out off 15) and Marco Jansen (16 off 7) ensured a formidable total for South Africa.
Scoreboard of the T20 World Cup Group D match between South Africa and Afghanistan here on Wednesday.
South Africa innings:
Aiden Markram c Nabi b Fazalhaq Farooqi 5
Quinton de Kock c Ibrahim Zadran b Rashid Khan 59
Ryan Rickelton lbw b Rashid Khan 61
Dewald Brevis c Nabi b Azmatullah Omarzai 23
David Miller not out 20
Tristan Stubbs c Mujeeb b Azmatullah Omarzai 1
Marco Jansen not out 16
Extras: (b 1, w 1) 2
Total: (For 6 wickets in 20 overs) 187
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-126, 3-127, 4-155, 5-159, 187-6
Bowling: Fazalhaq Farooqi 4-0-32-1, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3-0-30-0, Azmatullah Omarzai 4-0-41-3, Mohammad Nabi 2-0-20-0, Rashid Khan 4-0-28-2, Noor Ahmad 3-0-35-0.
