The South Africa cricket team edged the Afghanistan cricket team in a nail-biting ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 clash on Wednesday, winning the last ball of another Super Over after the teams drew twice in a dramatic group match in Ahmedabad.
South Africa posted 187-6, powered by blazing half-centuries from Quinton de Kock (59) and Ryan Rickelton (61), who made 114 to set the platform for what at one stage looked like a 200-plus total.
Afghanistan matched the target, finishing 187 all out, drawing the game into a Super Over. The tension only grew as the sides were tied again after the first one-over eliminator, forcing a rare second Super Over which South Africa sealed in a heart-pounding finish.
The match sent social media into overdrive, with fans calling it “crazy”, “crazy” and “unbelievable drama”, while many posts captured the heartbreak for Afghanistan after they forced the competition deep into sudden death.
“It’s the craziest game of cricket I’ve seen… SA survives,” wrote one netizen as Charles Watts described the contest as “crazy” and packed with “unbelievable drama”.
One X user summed it up as “Some end to the game”, while another hailed Afghanistan’s fight, writing: “What a GAME!! HATE AFGHANISTAN.”
Several users took the emotional hit for Afghanistan, with fans calling it a “heartbreaking moment” for Afghanistan and adding that South Africa “finally managed to pull this off”, while another wrote: “Agony for Afghanistan”.
Others claimed Afghanistan would regret mistakes, with one X user claiming they “probably” lost the match and potentially their Super 8 hopes due to mistakes, while one X user insisted: “Lost but this Afghanistan team is AWESOME!”
One netizen used the match to champion the format, calling it a reminder that T20 cricket can produce edge-of-the-seat drama.
In another direct reaction, one fan wrote: “SA win. End of road for Afghanistan,” capturing the ruthless finality of a contest that had twice refused to end.
