When South Africa set a massive target of 188 runs for Afghanistan in their second encounter of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the Asian side needed to get a great start inside the powerplay, and the eyes were on their wicket-keeper opening batter, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, to take them to a flying start in the first six overs of the innings. 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz nailed Lungi Ngidi for a lovely boundary to open his account before punishing being at the backward square leg region for another boundary. He cleared the front leg and went over the third man region using the pace of Marco Jansen for the first six of the chase before clubbing Kagiso Rabada at the same region for another six.

See Also: Watch: Quinton de Kock celebrates 50 in SA vs AFG T20 World Cup 2026 clash

When George Linde came into the attack, Gurbaz put him under pressure from the start as he nailed the flighted delivery over the mid-off region for a massive six. He lost three of his partners from the other end in just seven balls, but didn’t lose interest and focus on the board.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz gets aggressive fifty T20 WC 2026 

On the first ball of the eighth over, the right-handed batter lifted Linde over the bowler’s head for a massive six before punching him over the cover region for another maximum to celebrate his fifty in just 26 balls as Afghanistan kept their faith to get to the victory margin. It was the 14th 50+ score for Afghanistan in T20Is by Gurbaz, who is the joint-most with Ibrahim Zadran.

Watch the video here: 

Exceptional batting display! 👏🏻👌🏻

After a flurry of wickets from the other end, #RamanullahGurbaz is leading Afghanistan's fightback with a solid fifty in this exciting run-chase! 🇦🇫

ICC Men’s #T20WorldCup | #SAvAFG | LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/hgh4SaHBjk pic.twitter.com/SwamzhwwLh

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 11, 2026

Earlier in the game, the Proteas posted a strong score of 187 runs for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 20 overs of the innings. Ryan Rickelton scored 61 runs in just 28 balls at a strike rate of 217.86, thanks to five boundaries and four sixes, while Quinton de Kock smashed 59 runs in 41 balls.

Lungi Ngidi had bowled beautifully for the Rainbow Nation for his figures of 2/14 in two overs of the powerplay. Gurbaz, on the other hand, made his way to 84 runs in 41 balls with the help of four boundaries and seven sixes. 

Brief Scores: SA 144/3 (Ryan Rickelton 61, Quinton de Kock 59, Rashid Khan 2/28) vs AFG 115/3 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 84*, Lungi Ngidi 2/14)