Afghanistan claimed their maiden bilateral series win against South Africa after a huge 177-run victory in Sharjah, thanks to Rashid Khan who claimed five wickets to hand South Africa an embarrassing loss.
Nabi managed to survive an unsuccessful review against Bjorn Fortuin’s arm ball but soon fell for 5 pushing for quick runs. Gurbaz was caught at extra cover by Hendricks. In this article, we will discuss the main points of Afghanistan National Cricket Team vs South Africa National Cricket Team Match Scorecard.
Afghanistan vs South Africa Match Scorecard
After an anxious final session, South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first. Things started well enough with Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi sharing an opening partnership of 95 before Bavuma was caught at midwicket off Fazalhaq Farooqi for 41. Unfortunately, their middle order collapsed quickly thereafter, losing seven wickets as their batting fragility has once more become exposed this series.
Batsmen were unable to capitalise on an encouraging start to their innings against Naveed Zadran’s pace bowling, with openers looking confident despite early nerves from his pace bowling. A decision by Bavuma off Andile Phehlukwayo for review ended all hopes for big scores; leaving visitors struggling at 16-3 after four overs.
Proteas needed a swift recovery to stay competitive against an opponent chasing 170 runs, yet suffered another two wicket losses due to a run-out off a loose throw, leaving them at 89-6 after 16 overs. Mohammad Nabi edged Nqabayomzi Peter to extra cover, with Andile Phehlukwayo and Lungi Ngidi quickly wrapping up tail end batsmen as Andile Phehlukwayo and Lungi Ngidi tightened their grip around batsmen as quickly as they had started their chase of 170 in quick succession.
Bavuma fell while trying to hit left-armer Naveed Zadran over the stumps, and though de Zorzi pushed him past midwicket in his next over, the 19-year-old had given Afghanistan hope of recovery.
Middle order resistance was met by Farooqi and Rabada’s brutal bowling, eventually leading to their demise. Nqabayomzi Peter was first out in the 15th over, followed by Andile Phehlukwayo striking successfully on review and De Zorzi being dismissed after missing straight ball from Nqabayomzi for five ball duck. An anxious last over ensued but South Africa kept their nerve to seal victory and win series! A fantastic win for South Africa who can look forward to touring Ireland next.
Afghanistan vs South Africa 1st ODI
Afghanistan recovered strongly to defeat South Africa by six wickets and take an early advantage in their three-match series at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. South Africa struggled throughout, but ultimately fell victim to Afghanistan’s superior bowling display as well as some magnificent batting from Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Riaz Shah in searing heat conditions.
South Africa had difficulty getting their innings underway during the initial 20 overs, with Bjorn Fortuin and Tony de Zorzi both falling for relatively low scores while Nqaba Peter and Nandre Burger struggled against Afghan attacks.
Ngidi attacked the batsmen with a combination of cutters and slow balls to pin debutant opener Abdul Malik leg before wicket in his opening over. In his second over, Ngidi continued his challenge by pinching Ikram Alikhil leg before wicket before dismissing Gurbaz for a duck by having Gurbaz caught at mid off for another over.
Rashid Khan found his form with the ball once again in the sixth over, bowling Nandre Burger leg-before to seal two wickets in one over for just the third time this match. Rashid then struck again immediately afterwards with a googly that hit Nandre’s pads before striking him squarely on his back pad – twice before this over. This marked Rashid’s third double wicket haul of this match!
South Africa were given a great start by Nabi and Gurbaz and began their innings with real purpose during the final 10 overs, with Temba Bavuma (34) and De Zorzi (26) contributing over 70 runs for the fourth wicket before Ghazanfar Zadran struck, capturing Bavuma at extra cover before De Zorzi holed out to gully to leave South Africa at 160-4 in 41 overs.
Hashmatullah Shahidi, the winning skipper, stated that his team anticipates an equally challenging series against South Africa but they have all of their plans ready and will do everything possible to win. Furthermore, they took many valuable lessons away from this match and plan to use these learnings in future matches for optimal execution of plans.
Afghanistan vs South Africa 2nd ODI
Afghanistan made a dramatic step forward with their batting after outpacing South Africa with their bowling in the opening ODI. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored his maiden century while Azmatullah Omarzai posted an excellent 86 score to set up Hashmatuallah Shahidi’s side for victory; by contrast, South Africa collapsed quickly to score only 134 and suffered their greatest-ever home ODI defeat ever.
Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first, with Riaz Hassan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz sharing an 88-run first wicket stand to give Riaz Hassan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz off on a solid footing. Gurbaz then joined with Azmatullah Omarzai for an incredible second wicket partnership of 101 runs between them before Omarzai was dismissed with five fours and six massive sixes from 50 balls! Omarzai batted brilliantly until Omarzai eventually retired with five fours and six sixes from 50 balls!
South Africa found it hard to gain any momentum when they batted and their problems were further compounded by poor fielding performance. They missed several run-out chances and lost wickets at crucial moments – Lungi Ngidi, Bjorn Fortuin and Rashid Khan took wickets for Afghanistan with Rashid Khan striking in the final over to give their hosts an emphatic win.
Nqabayomzi Peter to Azmatullah Omarzai, FOUR! Peter introduces some spin and skids the ball short. Omarzai stays leg side to play it over square leg for an impressive six.
Rashid Khan celebrates his five-wicket haul and expresses his satisfaction at contributing to a winning team. Additionally, he praises the young bowlers he has worked with and their eagerness to learn and improve themselves.
Afghanistan took advantage of South African errors to win by 177 runs and claim their largest-ever bilateral series victory over them. Afghanistan became the first ODI team ever to defeat a team ranked higher by the ICC; and this win marks their highest-profile triumph against any top five side – losing all three home matches since.
Afghanistan vs South Africa 3rd ODI
After an uncertain start, South Africa’s batters eventually found their stride and cruised their innings to a successful conclusion. Thanks to a resilient showing from their batsmen, Afghanistan were denied another series victory preventing a hat-trick of defeats for South Africa despite Rahmanullah Gurbaz being their top performer with bat; his efforts, however, could not prevent South African victory!
Proteas spinners proved more effective than their seamers on the field, including Nqabayomzi Peter, Lungi Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo who kept Afghan batsmen quiet for much of the match – Phehlukwayo took two wickets during his dominant spell midway through their innings – while Ngidi offered batters upfront a variety of cutters and slow balls before eventually having opener Abdul Malik leg before wicket during power play!
Afghanistan was led by No-9 batter AM Ghazanfar’s 31 not out off 15 as their sole noteworthy contribution with the bat, as their other top eight batsmen failed to reach double figures and eventually fell victim to being outscored 111-44 over 33 overs.
Naveed Zadran bowled an outstanding first over and made life difficult for South Africa’s openers Tony de Zorzi and Temba Bavuma, but both eventually settled into their innings, creating an unbroken 95-run partnership for fourth wicket – particularly De Zorzi who hit three fours and one six in his innings.
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