South Africa finally got their first win of the tournament with a brutal 59 run victory over Afghanistan, and with it, secured their place in the Super 8 stage. I don't really want to say that they were ever in doubt, but their batting may have left a few people with a few jitters.

The boys didn't get off to the best start with Bosman being run out early on without scoring and there were no real partnerships built to help stabilise the innings. There were, however, good contributions from Smith and Kallis early on with 27 and 34 respectively. Duminy (25) and Albie Morkel (23) then helped prop up the end of the innings which helped South Africa get to 139 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs.

Smith said at the toss that they were hoping for around 170. Falling 30 runs short of that may just make them rethink their strategy, especially against such opponents as Afghanistan, who's attack was, to be fair, very good. I still think SA need to sort out the top 3 batting positions before they can settle down into their rhythm.

There were, perhaps, a few nerves out there as Afghanistan really had nothing to lose here, and would come out guns blazing. Steyn certainly had other ideas. The Phalaborwa Express didn't disappoint as his first ball was fast outside off, and swinging away. Noor Ali only lasted 3 balls, and from then on, the tide was firmly in South Africa's favour.

Steyn and Morne Morkel (who came on as first change to replace Langeveldt after one over), used the pitch with perfection. There was bounce and pace off it and the batsmen were all over the place in trying to play it. South Africa had Afghanistan at 14 for 6 before they started to build up some resistance, and were eventually bundled out for 80 in the 16th over. Their lower order adding some big hitting for the crowd to enjoy.

Roelof van der Merwe bowled out his four overs, as did Langeveldt, but neither looked too convincing. Langeveldt was a little less accurate than we're used to from the death bowler, and vd Merwe never looked too problematic for the opposition. This is probably still due to the team still not clicking as they should be, as Smith eluded to in his post-match presentation.

The South African's are still trying one or two things, both at the top of the order, as well as their spinner/pace option. They may need to figure it out, sooner rather than later, though. In saying that, the pace attack today was superb. They cleaned up when they needed to, and despite the tail wagging slighty, we're all feeling much better after that performance.

This match highlighted the fact that the smaller teams can do well while they bowl and the opposition almost throw their wickets away, but when it comes to getting a good total, their skill levels still need some work. This is clear here, as well as the Australia vs Bangladesh game. There is still a huge gap between the top sides and the sides trying to get up there.

Now we're into the super 8 stage, where things are about to get a whole lot more interesting. Our first game sees us up against the New Zealanders.

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