Afghanistan shocked South Africa to a historic 177-run win in Sharjah to capture their maiden bilateral series victory against Proteas, with Rashid Khan leading the charge with five wickets to send shockwaves through South African batting line-up.
Tony de Zorzi and Temba Bavuma’s opening partnership was strong until Naveed Zadran joined their attack and caused its collapse.
In this article, we will discuss the main points or high lights of Afghanistan National Cricket Team vs South Africa National Cricket Team Match Scorecard.
Afghanistan 311 (Ghazanfar Zadran 86, Azmatullah Omarzai 86) beat South Africa 160 (Temba Bavuma 34, Lungi Ngidi 2-25)
Hashmatullah Shahidi and his team have achieved an extraordinary goal – beating South Africa in their own backyard! Afghan cricket remains an international power, and Kabul must be abuzz with excitement following this victory.
South Africa were defeated by 177 runs in Sharjah for their opening ODI of this three-match series and now stand poised to complete an historic whitewash of Proteas cricketers.
Afghanistan captain Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat first, with immediate success; opening batsmen quickly amassing 40 runs for opening wicket in just eight overs. But then came middle order failure for South Africa: two wickets fell in four consecutive overs before things unravelled further.
Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai played pivotal roles in building their innings. Omarzai’s explosive knock of 86 from 50 balls propelled them towards an impressive total. With his aggressive stroke play at the end, they closed on 244 all out.
South African batsmen struggled on a pitch that appeared ideal for Afghanistan’s spin-heavy attack, their bowlers not being able to keep pressure up throughout an innings and finding it hard to restrict runs even with excellent fielding efforts.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman returns for his sixth over, and de Kock strikes two boundaries within its duration. Pitching outside off stump, good length from this left-armer left-arm bowler had de Kock move onto his front foot and punch a drive through off side for four runs before following it up with one more boundary off first ball of next over as well.
But it was the final over that proved decisive. The right-arm fast bowler delivered an accurate length delivery, with de Kock misjudging its pace and hitting it into his leg stump, where wicketkeeper Ajantha Menon collected an easy catch before Nangeyalia Kharote removed bails to abruptly end South African innings.
Afghanistan won by 7 wickets
Afghanistan was impressive in their victory against South Africa. This win marked their first of any form against South Africa and a key step toward earning ODI status – something they have been working toward for some time now. Afghanistan are an inspiring testament to how cricket transcends national borders; their journey towards cricketing glory has been truly impressive given the chaos in their country and lack of cricket culture existing there.
Fazalhaq Farooqi and 18-year-old sensation Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar played pivotal roles as Afghanistan secured a significant win against South Africa. South Africa won the toss and decided to bat, only to be struck by an initial assault from Afghan fast bowlers – particularly Fazalhaq Farooqi’s short ball which teased Reeza Hendricks before trapping Tony de Zorzi leg before wicket off another delivery from Farooqi.
Ghazanfar sliced one past Temba Bavuma for six, and with Azmatullah Omarzai in fine form, Ghazanfar and Omarzai put on an aggressive partnership that took them past 250. Omarzai fell to Peter Siddle’s brilliant run-out but that only escalated their collapse, sending Proteas reeling.
Temba Bavuma was caught leg before wicket by Rashid off a short ball, signalling an end to an uncertain innings for South Africa which looked set for an easy win before their scores plummeted to their lowest total in a T20 international.
Afghanistan are on track to qualify for the 2015 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand despite an initial setback. They finished second in the World Cricket League Championship with nine victories out of 14 matches, joining Ireland as Associate teams already qualified. It might seem surprising that war-ravaged Afghanistan could become such a force on the global sporting stage but Afghanistan have proven that cricket can remain relevant even during an age when sport increasingly favours wealth over power.
Afghanistan won by 6 wickets
Afghanistan cricket team surprised expectations by defeating South Africa for the first time ever in an ODI at Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown. Afghanistan bowlers excelled as they secured a stunning win to take a commanding 2-0 advantage in this three-match series.
Team Sri Lanka have won admirers in the global cricket community due to their disciplined yet exuberant approach, receiving wild celebrations at the end of every match they played. On Tuesday they will face India in their final match; victory would secure their progression into quarter-finals while defeat would mean exit from tournament altogether.
Afghanistan, so often associated with war and conflict, has recently seen hope given by its national cricket team for its citizens in terms of financial rewards. For some individuals it represents their only way out of poverty.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday. While Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi put on an opening partnership of 73 runs in 14 overs, introduction of Rashid in the 18th over triggered a collapse, with South Africa losing seven wickets for 66 runs in an instantaneous collapse.
Bavuma was the first to fall, edging Rashid’s slower ball to Ikram Alikhil at mid off. De Zorzi followed quickly after, hitting Ngidi short ball straight to Mohammad Nabi at cover point for 13 and later trapping AB de Villiers leg before wicket with an extraordinary diving catch by Nabi at cover point.
As long as the Taliban controls large areas of Afghanistan, it should come as no surprise that cricket team members would meet with senior Taliban figures. A picture widely shared online shows members meeting Sirajuddin Haqqani – head of their notorious Haqqani network and acting Minister of Interior under their regime.
Afghanistan won by 5 wickets
Afghan cricketers made history on Friday as they defeated South Africa for the first time ever in one-day internationals, signaling genuine contender status for becoming major cricket powers. Afghanistan now occupy top spot in Group C and stand a mere game away from reaching the semi-finals of this World Cup tournament.
South Africa’s bowlers fared well early on in Afghanistan’s innings but couldn’t stop its batters from amassing a massive total. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Riaz Hassan provided an outstanding partnership that set up their nation’s big total; however, Azmatullah Omarzai emerged to lead Afghanistan to an imposing total.
Omarzai hit five fours and six sixes on his way to an unbeaten 86 off fifty balls, supported by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Riaz Shah and Mohammad Nabi who all chipped in with valuable runs.
South African batsmen found it hard to cope with Afghan bowlers, quickly finding themselves struggling at 160 in response. Temba Bavuma and Bjorn Fortuin both scored half-centuries to give hope, yet were ultimately powerless against an unexpected defeat for the Proteas.
Afghanistan won by five wickets to take an early 2-0 lead in the series. Their squad features experienced players like Ghazanfar Zadran and Ibrahimzad, promising youngsters, as well as specialist spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman who is still recovering from left calf surgery. Their squad is divided into five regions: Amo (which covers Balkh), Spin Ghar in the east, Band-e Amir in the center, Mis Ainak in the southeast and Boost in southwest and west; each of these regions have their own representative team which competes across all three formats while being managed by a national selector.
