AB de Villiers announced himself at the World Twenty20 with a swashbuckling 64 and made Afghanistan pay heavily for dropping him twice as South Africa scored 209 for the loss of five wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Opener Quinton de Kock (45) continued his impressive show with the bat and added 65 for the second wicket with captain Faf du Plessis, who won the toss and opted to bat in their second match at the venue.
The Proteas, one of the favourites to lift the trophy at Kolkata's Eden Gardens on April 3, lost De Kock and Du Plessis (41) in quick succession, which set the stage for De Villiers to explode.
The right-hander was first dropped by Samiullah Shenwari on 26 off his own bowling and then again on 35 by the same fielder at midwicket off leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
Rashid was the unfortunate bowler who suffered most from De Villiers' onslaught as the batsman plundered 29 runs in the 17th over with four sixes and a boundary to race past his fifty in 24 deliveries.
De Villiers added 76 for the fourth wicket with left-hander JP Duminy (29 not out), who guided South Africa past the 200-run mark with David Miller (19).
South Africa dropped Dale Steyn from the side that lost their Group One opener and drafted in bowling all-rounder David Wiese, hoping to get their campaign back on track.
Afghanistan, who reached the Super 10 stage after coming through the qualifiers, also lost their opening match, against defending champions Sri Lanka.
Karim Sadiq, Shafiqullah and Hamid Hassan were dropped from the Afghan side that lost in Kolkata and were replaced by Shapoor Zadran, Amir Hamza and Gulbadin Naib.
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