The Afghanistan coach, Jonathan Trott, has conceded that they were simply outplayed by South Africa in the first semi-final of the ICC T20 World Cup.

The Proteas trashed Afghanistan by 9-wickets in the historic semi-final which saw South Africa reaching a World Cup final for the first time in the 32-years since readmission.

For South Africa, they are playing in their 18th World Cup since 1992, while they played in eight semi-finals over the team, with the most recent before the game being during the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India.

Incredibly, the Proteas captain Aiden Markram who led South Africa to the U19 Cricket World Cup title in 2014, has never lost a World Cup game as the captain. In 2014 he led South Africa to six victories in Dubai, while last year he led the team to two wins when he stood for Temba Bavuma, and currently, they are on an eight-match winning streak.

Jonathan Trott and Rashid Khan - Cricinfo

The South African born-and-bred former England batter, Jonathan Trott, said they were outplayed, while they will also have to bolster their teams going forward, especially in the batting department.

“I just think that South Africa bowled pretty well and they knew the bowling conditions once they saw how the pitch was behaving,” said Trott.

“I just think it's bad as we haven't fired really the middle-order hasn't fired enough at this World Cup.

“We've perhaps been a bit too reliant on Gurbaz and Ibrahim to get runs. Nobody else has got runs, and we need to find a reason for that. We need to get more batters in who are going to score runs and be more consistent like the openers have been, and been giving us a chance in games.

“So that's the project for going forward. Certainly, in all formats of white-ball cricket as well, getting middle-order batters and top-order batters like we have at the openers with Ibrahim and Gurbaz.

“So that's the focus for now, and what I take away from this World Cup, obviously, is too reliant on the openers, maybe.”

South Africa will face the winner between England and India in the final on Saturday.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport