New Delhi: Afghanistan defeated South Africa in the first ODI by six wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on September 18, Wednesday. This is Afghanistan’s first-ever international win against the South African team. The Proteas’ batters struggled against Afghanistan’s brilliant bowling and got all out for 106 runs.
Hashmatullah Shahidi-led Afghan team also struggled in the chase but Azmatullah and Gulbadin’s impressive innings helped the team to beat South Africa.
Faaroqi, Ghazanfar shine with the ball
South African skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bat first but his decision backfired quickly as Fazalhaq Faaroqi dismissed Reeaza Hendricks early in the innings. The left-arm pacer also removed Markram and Tony de Zorzi to put some more pressure on the visitors.
Allah Ghazanfar did a great job with the ball and dismissed Tristan Stubbs and Jason Smith for ducks in the same over. The Proteas were crumbled to 36/7 as Ghazanfar picked up the wicket Kyle Verreynne and Andile Phehlukwayo got run out.
A brilliant fifty from Wiaan Mulder and a crucial knock from Bjorn Fortuin took South Africa to 106 runs. Farooqi picked up four wickets and Ghazanfar took three wickets.
Historic chase by Afghanistan
The Afghan batters also struggled at the start of the innings while chasing the 107-run target as Lungi Ngidi removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck in the first over. Fortuin also got the wickets of Riaz Hassan and Rahmat Shah while Aiden Markram dismissed Hashmatullah Shahidi on 16 runs.
Despite a great start with the ball, Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib’s unbeaten partnership for the fifth wicket guided Afghanistan to a historic victory. Afghanistan previously faced South Africa in two ODIs and three T20Is but failed to beat them on each occasion. But they performed well in every department at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium to register their first-ever win against the Proteas.
Afghanistan defeated South Africa by six wickets in the first ODI at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
