2.15am: After a night celebrating MJ Scheepers' 30th birthday (with him in Komatipoort while I live in Joburg) with Revaan Singh, that 2am alarm hit me deep in my anger area but work is work. Come on South Africa!
So here is an unedited timeline of my experience of watching South Africa play Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup semi-finals ...
2.20: Afghanistan win the toss and will bat first while South Africa are unchanged from their match against the West Indies: De Kock, Hendricks, Markram, Klaasen, Miller, Stubbs, Jansen, Maharaj, Rabada, Nortje and Shamsi.
2.27: Anthems time, Afghanistan side is also unchanged from their match against Bangladesh - Gurbaz, Ibrahim, Azmat, Gulbadin, Nabi, Karim, Rashid, Naveen, Nangyal, Noor and FazalHaq.
2.30: Jansen opening the bowling. If I'd known I was going to feel this thirsty right now, I would have had more to drink last night ...
2.35: Gurbaz is outta here! Jansen finds the edge of Gurbaz's bat and Hendricks takes it clean as a whistle at slip. 4/1. Gulbadin in at No 3.
2.38: Tight second over from Kesh, good start by the Proteas bowlers.
2.42: It all comes together for Jansen as he cleans up Gulbadin, Afghanistan now 16/2 and Azmat is at the crease with Ibrahim. Great start for the Proteas, head still hurts though ...
2.45: 20/2 after three overs, should I have another beer or is it too early?
2.46: Rabada come into the attack and bowls Ibrahim first ball. What a cracker! 20/3 now and Proteas on top, that ball deserves a beer.
2.47: Nabi out to bat, beer is a bit too cold, going to have to let it 'breath' a bit.
2.48: KG! Another perfect ball hits the top of Nabi's off stump, Afghanistan now 20/4 after 3.4. Lefty Nangyal out to face the music, chin music.
2.50: Beer is going down a treat now, no fishhooks.
2.55: Jansen strangles Nangyal down the leg side and it's 23/5 after five overs. Karim out to bat. Perfect start for South Africa. Might be able to go to sleep again soon.
2.58: Commentators crediting the pitch for Proteas' great start, not the bowlers. This is why I watch cricket on mute if I can.
3.01: Need another wicket so I can get a fresh beer, greedy I know but still.
3.02: Nortje delivers for me and the country, Stubbs takes the catch and it's 28/6 now. Rashid strides out to the wicket.
3.04: Angry Nortje is my favourite Nortje.
3.08: Khan gets a couple of fours and gets his team going forward a little bit but at 38/6 they are still in a big hole.
3.12: SA review an LBW shout, slower ball from Nortje looks to be going down leg but who knows?
3.13: Yip, down leg. Hope that wasted review doesn't come back to bite Proteas.
3.14: Ponting managing to bring up Australia even though they didn't make the semi-finals is the most Aussie piece of commentary ever.
3.15: Need to real Shambo to please stand up, he's been up and down in this tournament and he starts with a pie.
3.16: That's my boy! Shamsi strikes, Afghanistan review, Karim walks. Ball clipping leg stump - 50/7.
3.20: Shamsi strikes again! Another LBW review, another umpire's call. 50/8 as Noor goes for a duck. Naveen is the new man.
3.22: Drinks break, don't mind if I do.
3.26: Dangerous Rashid is castled by Nortje, 50/9 and extras (11) remain the top score.
3.31: What the hell was that? Reverse sweep off Shamsi is missed, goes past De Kock, hits Maharaj's foot and it's two byes. Might need to switch to water ...
3.32: Another Shamsi LBW reviewed, another wicket. Afghanistan end on 56. Proteas should chase this comfortably, should.
3.33: Out of this world bowling performance by the Proteas. Everyone was as perfect as flawed humans can be. Extras (13) end up top-scoring.
3.46: Getting set for the Proteas' chase and getting stressed. After all the tight wins, a simple game seems more worrying. Hope the SA bats are as hot as the balls (you know what I mean).
3.51: De Kock and Hendricks come out for the chase of 57. Amazing to think that 57 runs stand between South Africa and a first Men's ICC World Cup final. Today in Hendricks' day, I can feel it.
3.54: Afghanistan are being aggressive, lots of chat already as De Kock takes one in the ribs.
3.57: Tough first over from Naveen, Proteas 1/0.
3.58: De Kock welcomes new bowler FazalHaq with a punch through midwicket for the first boundary of the chase.
4.01: De Kock goes for a big one and is cleaned up by FazalHaq. Just what Afghanistan wanted as South Africa are 5/1.
4.04: Nerves are starting to hit now, might need to break out the tequila.
4.06: Wow! Markram nicks it through to the keeper but only Rashid hears it, skipper gets convinced that there was nothing. Lucky break for the Proteas captain.
4.12: Finally a bad ball from the Afghanistan bowlers and Hendricks puts it away. Proteas now 13/1 after four overs.
4.14: Ponting going on about the ball hitting the splice when it hit the toe of Markram's bat ... Mute!
4.15: New bat for Markram, seems like this is the one he should have been using all tournament as he hits two fours in a row.
4.20: It's now 26/1 after five, starting to breathe easier. Can stick to beer, no need for the hard stuff.
4.21: Rashid into the attack during the PowerPlay, big moment, can he do a Shamsi?
4.24: PowerPlay ends with another four, Rashid trying to be hard and being found out. It's now 34/1.
4.32: Markram and Hendricks looking comfortable, think it's Ok to believe ... 14 runs needed for victory and a place in the final against India or England.
4.34: Markram not messing around anymore, backing himself and smashing the ball all over the place. Great to see.
4.37: Scores are level as Hendricks hits the free hit for six. One run needed off 68 balls.
4.38: Boundary for Hendricks secures a nine-wicket win for the Proteas. History has been made by this side. Hendricks ends on 29*, Markram on 23*.
Great team performance, now the focus shifts to Saturday.
That was worth getting up for.
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