South Africa banish semifinal jinx with 9-wicket win over Afghanistan, enter maiden T20 WC final
Tarouba (Trinidad) (PTI): South Africa exorcised their agonising semifinal jinx through an exceptional spell of pace bowling as they walloped an emotionally drained Afghanistan by nine wickets to enter their first-ever T20 World Cup final here.
They will face the winners of the second semifinal between India and England in the title clash, but the Afghans will go home with their heads held high after a stirring run in the tournament.
Marco Jansen (3/16) Kagiso Rabada (2/14) and Anrich Nortje (2/7) ripped the soul out of the Afghanistan top-order while bundling them out for a paltry 56 in just 11.5 overs after being invited to bowl.
Despite the early departure of Quinton de Kock, bowled through the gate by impressive pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi, the Proteas had little trouble in reaching 60 for one in 8.5 overs.
Reeza Hendricks (29 not out), who put up his highest score in this event, and skipper Aiden Markram (23 not out) navigated them safely to the shores of victory as they have finally freed themselves from the painful tag of chokers in global events.
Afghanistan have given their everything to reach the World Cup semifinal, and in the crucial clash they were left with no energy, and produced a nothing effort that belied their doughtiness until now.
It affected their batting as they looked unusually edgy against the South African pacers, who summoned a spell from hell.
They reduced the Afghans to 28 for five inside the Powerplay and there was no coming back from that depth as they crashed to their lowest total in a T20 International.
Their 56 was also the lowest total in a T20 World Cup semifinal clash.
Once reduced to 28 for six, Afghanistan could not even offer a smidgeon of fight as their dream of reaching a maiden World Cup final was squashed even before it began.
While the South Africa pacers were on the money, the Afghan batters too should cope some blame for being edgy on a pitch that hid no evils apart from those deliveries that kicked up from a length.
Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the first to perish, chasing Jansen’s delivery outside the off-stump to give Reeza Hendricks an easy catch at slip.
The dismissal of in-form Gurbaz seemed to inject doses of panic in the Afghanistan line-up, and Gulbadin Naib was consumed by a lovely in-coming delivery by Jansen.
But the next two dismissals were a combination of bowler's brilliance and batters’ irrationality.
Ibrahim Zadran, on whom a lot was riding for the Afghans, did not move his feet at all against a Rabada delivery that came back a bit. There was enough room for the ball to sneak past the bat and pad to rattle Zadran's leg-stump.
Three balls later in the fourth over, Mohammad Nabi's dismissal was along similar lines and the only difference was that Rabada disturbed the off-stump this time.
Nortje joined the party with the scalp of Azmatullah Omarzai, whose slash found Tristan Stubbs in the deep.
Gurbaz, Zadran and Omarzai have been the leading run-makers for Afghanistan in this ICC showpiece, but on the crucial day all they could manage was a paltry 12 runs between them.
Skipper Rashid Khan, who could have made some valuable runs, chose to expose all his stumps to Nortje to see the one close to his legs getting cartwheeled across the field.
Leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (3/6) applied the coupe de grace on Afghanistan batting line with two wickets in one over, jettisoning Karim Jannat and Noor Ahmad.
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Narayana Guru's philosophy counters majoritarianism amid social divisions, says Siddaramaiah
Varkala (Kerala) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said saint and social reformer Sree Narayana Guru's philosophy remains a powerful answer to rising majoritarianism and social divisions in an India that boasts of economic progress even as unity weakens.
Speaking at the 93rd Sivagiri Pilgrim Conclave at Sivagiri Math, founded by Guru here, Siddaramaiah, the chief guest at the function, lamented that today's India faces a paradox where "we boast of economic growth, digital expansion and global influence, and yet social solidarity is weakening, and hatred is being normalised".
He said caste has not disappeared, but it has just changed its grammar.
Noting that communalism no longer speaks openly of hierarchy, it speaks the language of identity, fear, and majoritarian pride, Siddaramaiah said Guru foresaw this danger.
"He understood that when religion is separated from compassion and ethics, it becomes a tool of domination," Siddaramaiah said.
"Guru's philosophy directly counters religious majoritarianism, cultural nationalism without equality and identity politics without justice. His message reminds us that nation-building without social justice is merely state-building, not democracy," he said.
The Karnataka chief minister said it was no coincidence that after meeting Guru, Mahatma Gandhi sharpened his stance against untouchability, took a stand in favour of a simple life, and refused to attend weddings if they were not inter-caste.
He said that Rabindranath Tagore's idea of the "universal man" was inspired by the works of Guru.
He also shaped the ethical universe of Tagore, who acknowledged that dividing human beings in the name of religion is the greatest injustice, the CM said.
"Thus, Guru stands at the ideological crossroads of modern India by bridging spirituality, rationalism, humanism and social justice," Siddaramaiah said. The conclave was inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
According to Siddramaiah, Guru's influence was not confined to Kerala.
"His historic dialogue with Mahatma Gandhi in 1925 altered the intellectual course of the freedom movement. It made Gandhiji confront a fundamental truth that “Caste is not cultural diversity, it is institutionalised injustice," he said.
Using the mango tree analogy, Guru revealed that though leaves differ, their essence is the same, making Mahatma Gandhi realise that caste and religion, not diversity, are the world's deepest social problems, the Karnataka CM said. Siddaramaiah also spoke about Guru's impact on Karnataka.
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"Though geographically rooted in Kerala, Guru's influence crossed linguistic and state boundaries, shaping reform movements along the Karnataka coast, especially in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, and parts of Malnad," he said.
He said the Billava, Elava, Ediga, Mogaveera, and other backward communities of coastal Karnataka drew inspiration from Guru's call for dignity, education, and organisation.
"His message strengthened anti-caste assertion and self-respect movements in the region. This is one of the main reasons for strong resistance to attempts by communal forces to divide the people in the region," he said.
The chief minister said Basavanna's Kayaka (dignified labour) finds a direct echo in Narayana Guru's insistence on economic self-reliance alongside spiritual growth.
"Basavanna democratised devotion through Vachanas, Narayana Guru democratized divinity itself, asserting that human beings' exclusions are not graded by birth, but equal by existence. Both transformed religion from a tool of exclusion into a language of social justice," he said.
Siddaramaiah opined that the Sivagiri Pilgrimage cannot remain a yearly ritual.
"It must become a continuous social movement," the chief minister said and called upon religious leaders to speak against hatred, scholars to take Guru's philosophy into classrooms, youth to challenge injustice, not inherit silence and political institutions to align governance with ethical values," he said.
Concluding his address, Siddaramaiah called for an India rooted in dignity, dialogue and equal humanity, saying this was the democratic vision shared by Narayana Guru, Mahatma Gandhi and the Sivagiri movement.
