Afghanistan draw first blood as they demolish South Africa in Sharjah in the first One-Day of the three-match series.
Afghanistan draw first blood in the series with a stunning 6-wicket win over the Proteas.
England. Pakistan. Sri Lanka. New Zealand. Australia. And now South Africa.
The first three of those outcomes came during the 50-over World Cup last year in ODIs. Afghanistan advanced to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup this year, where they played in the previous two. In the interim, the two sides’ first encounter outside of World Cups resulted in a T20I victory over Sri Lanka and an ODI victory over South Africa.
South Africa was surprised by Afghanistan’s opening bowlers, Fazalhaq Farooqi and AM Ghazanfar, during the powerplay, and they were reduced to their lowest score in ODI history after ten overs: 36 for 7. On a slow and dry pitch against Afghanistan, South Africa was shot out for the lowest score by a top-ten rated side, but they managed to avoid being bowled out for their lowest ODI total of 69 thanks to a 39-run eighth-wicket stand between Wiaan Mulder and Bjorn Fortuin.
Even though they initially found it simple to score runs, Afghanistan has never failed to chase a score below 130, and they had no intention of breaking that record. Hashmatullah Shahidi steadied them after they were down 38 for 3 in the 14th over, and Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib’s combination of 47 off 48 balls brought them to an enormous victory in the fifth wicket. Afghanistan needed just 24 overs to complete the total.
After giving 14 runs off his opening 11 deliveries, Farooqi changed his angle from over to around the wicket, and it was a great move. Reeza Hendricks missed the last ball in his second over, but the South African opener still reached for it and continued playing. Exactly the same manner Aiden Markram, standing in as captain for an injured Temba Bavuma, went at the end of Farooqi’s subsequent over. When Tony de Zorzi top-edged a pull to Shahidi at midwicket in his subsequent over, Farooqi secured his third wicket.
In addition, South Africa should think about how their assault was put together, with just one specialist spinner (Fortuin) compared against Afghanistan’s three. Nevertheless, the seamen made their cuts early.
On the third ball of the innings, Ngidi had Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught at deep third, putting Afghanistan in early difficulty. For the majority of the first seven overs, Ngidi and Nandre Burger kept Afghanistan quiet. Ngidi believed he had Rahmat snaffled down the leg side and reviewed, but the ball struck his pad, and the pressure told. Rahmat got out lbw after failing to sweep off a full, flighted ball after Fortuin was brought on in the eighth over.
And then, after a short ball from Burger was pushed over backward square leg by Riaz Hasan, Afghanistan’s first boundary was achieved. On the other side of Shahidi’s power play, Burger received the same treatment, and Afghanistan was gathering steam.
After enjoying the ride, Azmatullah blasted Markram with six more down the line. Subsequently, Markram removed himself and replaced Burger, but Naib hit him for consecutive sixes. With 13 runs off Phehlukwayo’s second over, he brought the modest Sharjah crowd and the Afghanistan dressing room to tears.