Afghanistan defeated South Africa by six wickets in the first one-day international in Sharjah on Wednesday. They batted first and limited the Proteas to just 106 runs. The opening bowlers Fazalhaq Farooqi (4-35) and AM Ghazanfar (3-20) bowled brilliantly to ensure that the Afghan batters would have an easy chase. Even though South Africa managed to avoid recording their lowest-ever score in an ODI. But as it turned out, they lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz to a catch at third man off Lungi Ngidi on the third ball of the innings.
At that time, Afghans were down 15-2 when Rahmat Shah was leg before Bjorn Fortuin. Along with dismissing Hashmatullah Shahidi, Fortuin also took out Riaz Hassan for sixteen. Meanwhile, Aiden Markram, Captain Temba Bavuma’s replacement due to illness, also cleared the field. Nevertheless, they were dismissed in 26 overs thanks to Azmatullah Omarzai (25 not out) and Gulbadin Naib (34 off 27 balls).
Afghanistan Crushes South Africa
With South Africa struggling at 29/5, Ghazanfar continued his dominance by dismissing Kyle Verreynne and Andile Phehlukwayo, leading to a collapse that saw South Africa at 36/7. The toss was won by Markram, who chose to bat first. Reeza Hendricks and Tony de Zorzi put up 17 runs for the opening wicket before Farooqi, a left-arm quick, bowled Hendricks for 9 to start a stunning collapse that saw South Africa fall to 36-7.
Markram (2) and de Zorzi (11) were removed from the game by Farooqi, while Ghazanfar removed Jason Smith (who was playing in his first ODI match) and Tristan Stubbs for ducks and Kyle Verreynne for ten. Just when Ghazanfar was pleading for his leg, Andile Phehlukwayo disappeared, leaving Nabi to chase him out—as if South Africa didn’t already have enough difficulties.
It appeared that South Africa’s record lowest ODI total of 69, achieved against Australia in Sydney in 1993, would be in jeopardy with only 10 of the 50 overs bowled. However, Wiaan Mulder and Fortuin’s eighth-wicket partnership of 39 took them through the threat and gave them a chance to rebuild the innings.
Historic Afghanistan Win
Rashid Khan, playing in his first One-Day International since the World Cup last year, bowled Fortuin. But Mulder got them past the hundred and eventually reached his first ODI fifty. Soon after, he was dismissed by Farooqi, after scoring 52 runs from 84 balls, including five fours and a six. The only bright spot in a miserable innings was his partnership of 39 runs with Bjorn Fortuin for South Africa’s eighth wicket.
Nevertheless, the latter’s 2-22 from his nine overs was merely a postponement of events in Afghanistan’s chase. After he had Ngidi’s leg before finishing with 2-30, Rashid completed the innings in 33.3 overs. Afghanistan achieved a historic victory despite having a strong start with the ball. Thanks to the undefeated partnership between Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib at the fifth wicket.
For the first time, Afghanistan has triumphed over the Proteas in six distinct guises. They were recently bowled out for 56 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 semifinal match against South Africa. Afghanistan’s victory means that they have now won in every format against all teams except for India and Nepal (who have only played one match each).
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