Cricket legend calls out disrespectful World Cup treatment

A cricket legend has floated an explosive World Cup conspiracy theory as he called out disrespectful treatment towards one nation.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan was left seething as Afghanistan’s World Cup dreams went up in flames on Thursday.

South Africa demolished Afghanistan in ruthless fashion as they won by nine wickets with more than 11 overs to spare to reach the final of the cricket showpiece for the first time.

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Vaughan however unloaded on social media as Afghanistan’s batting line-up fell apart with the English icon taking aim at tournament organisers.

“So Afghanistan qualify for the WC 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,” he wrote.

As his tirade went on, Vaughan floated a conspiracy theory that the entire tournament was handing every possible advantage to help guide India towards victory.

“Surely this Semi should have been the Guyana one .. but because the whole event is geared towards India it’s so unfair on others,” he wrote in a separate tweet.

Afghanistan’s World Cup dreams are done and dusted. (Photo by Chandan Khanna / AFP)

South Africa made light work of the Afghanistan batting order as left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (3 for 6) and gangling pacer Marco Jansen (3-16) spearheaded the rout.

Fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje maintained the relentless pressure with two wickets apiece at the Brian Lara Stadium.

On a surface which encouraged all bowlers but left Afghanistan with too little to defend, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock early in reply for Fazalhaq Farooqi’s tournament-leading 17th wicket.

But Reeza Hendricks (29 not out) and captain Aiden Markram (23 not out) saw them to victory at 60 for one off 8.5 overs to advance the Proteas to Saturday’s final in Barbados where they will face the winners of Friday’s second semi-final between titleholders England and unbeaten India in Guyana.

South Africa are into the final. (Photo by Chandan Khanna / AFP)

“We assessed pretty early that the wicket was giving us something to work with so it was just about sticking to our plans, keeping it simple and getting the results,” Man of the Match Jansen said of South Africa’s bowling display, which effectively ended the match as a contest.

Only Azmatullah Omarzai (10) got into double-figures for the Afghans while their highest contribution to the paltry total was 13 extras in a thoroughly deflating effort following Tuesday’s pulsating drama when they pipped Bangladesh in St. Vincent to reach the final four.

Throughout this dream run to their first semi-final of a senior men’s world tournament Afghanistan have been reliant on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran to give them a solid platform and at the same time mask the frailties of the rest of the batting line-up.

But when Jansen had Gurbaz taken at slip by Hendricks without scoring in the first over of the match, the worst fears of the Afghans and a growing mass of supporters in the Caribbean were realised as the Proteas mercilessly exploited their opponents’ technical deficiencies.

“It was a tough night for us as a team, but that how it goes in T20s,” said Afghan captain Rashid Khan.

“You need to be mentally ready for any kind of situation. They bowled exceptionally and we just couldn’t bat well.” For Markram, who led South Africa to the Under-19 men’s title in 2014 in Dubai, it was all about making the most of good luck.

“I was fortunate to have lost the toss, I guess, because we also would have batted. But still the bowlers had to get it in the right areas and they did that,” he explained.

“It’s not really the captain who gets you to this stage of a competition. It’s a massive squad effort involving those behind the scenes and off the field.”

It was a one-sided affair on Thursday. (Photo by Chandan Khanna / AFP)

This will be South Africa’s first senior men’s final since the inaugural Champions Trophy in Bangladesh in 1998 when the side led by Hansie Cronje defeated Brian Lara’s West Indies team in the title match.

Afghan skipper Rashid meanwhile said his team would look back on their campaign pride and belief for the future.

“We came here before the tournament and if you told us we would be playing the semi-final against South Africa, we would accept that,” Rashid said. “We are capable of beating any side.

“Next time when we participate in a tournament like this, we will have the belief. It’s about how you manage yourself in those pressure situations against tough teams.

“There is a lot of hard work to be done, especially in the middle order … We have achieved some good results but when we come back in the tournament, we need to do better, especially in the batting department.”

- with AFP