Afghanistan Secures Historic 2-0 Series Victory Against South Africa
Afghanistan’s first series victory over a team ranked in the top five by the ICC came in the second ODI of the series, which they won by 177 runs over South Africa.
Afghanistan bowled out South Africa for just 134 runs after setting a difficult target of 312 runs, thanks in large part to performances from Rashid Khan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Key Performances and Match Results
Afghanistan 311 for 4 (Gurbaz 105, Omarzai 86*, Rahmat 50)
South Africa 134 (Bavuma 38, Rashid 5-19, Kharote 4-26)
Afghanistan won by 177 runs.
Match Analysis
Afghanistan defeated South Africa by 177 runs in Sharjah to secure their most well-known bilateral series victory and their first against a side ranked in the top five by the ICC. Afghanistan asked South Africa to finish their sixth-highest successful chase on Friday after dominating them with the ball two days earlier.
On Friday, they replicated the feat with the bat, posting their tenth total of 300 or more. South Africa could not even come close to winning, recording their fifth-largest loss by runs after a collapse of 10 for 61. With one game left in the series, Afghanistan leads 2-0.
On his 26th birthday, Rashid Khan scored his sixth career five-for to cap off an outstanding day for Afghanistan across the board. Rahmat Shah’s 29th ODI half-century, Azmatullah Omarzai’s fastest fifty in the format, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s eighth ODI century set the tone for their celebrations.
Omarzai scored fifty runs in thirty-two balls, finished undefeated at eighty-six off fifty balls, and spearheaded Afghanistan’s drive of ninety-three runs in the final ten overs to establish a formidable total. Left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote, who finished with a career-best 4 for 26, shared the glory with Rashid, who was the star of their bowling attack.
Afghanistan made a statement early on when they choose to bat, forcing South Africa to field in the intense heat. Although it was officially 38 degrees Celsius, it seemed more like the late 40s, and there was no genuine threat. The Afghan innings was anchored by a 101-run second-wicket stand between Gurbaz and Shah after Gurbaz and Riaz Hassan put on 88 for the first wicket.
Though they only gave up 59 runs in 14 overs between them, South Africa’s spinners, Bjorn Fortuin and Aiden Markram, were the most successful in keeping Afghanistan quiet. Nandre Burger also gave up 68 runs, and debutant legspinner Nqaba Peter proved costly.
Afghanistan’s fourth and fifth wicket stands of 55 off 40 balls and 40 off 23 respectively allowed them to get away from South Africa, despite the fact that Lungi Ngidi was the best seamer, especially towards the conclusion of the game.
Gurbaz opened the scoring with a huge six over long off after a ball of Ngidi length. After that, he raced from 4 off the first 15 balls he faced to a run-a-ball 24 with a cover drive for four and two pull shots off Burger short balls.
Burger’s propensity on using the short ball did not help South Africa much in the early going. Fortuin was brought on during the powerplay and did not say anything. 32 runs were lost in his opening five overs spell. Peter took his spot, and his opening over was tight. In his following two, he conceded a point before Markam took over. When Markram hit Hassan on the pad above the knee roll and outwitted him with an inside edge, he took the first wicket.
Gurbaz calmed down for a few overs, but in the twenty-first over, when Wiaan Mulder was introduced, he was unable to withstand a charge down. For his second six, he gave Mulder a long, hard hit. What came next was an electrifying exhibition of shots from Rahmat and Gurbaz in a stand that appeared to deplete South Africa.
In order to go closer to ninety, Rahmat reverse-pawed Markam to third and flicked Mulder finely for four. Gurbaz, meantime, lofted Peter over mid-off and mid-wicket and swept Fortuin to deep backward square.
Then the nerves started to bite. As he approached his milestone, he made 18 deliveries in the 1990s and seven of those on 99, including a maiden over from Fortuin. When he caught Markram behind square leg, he responded with the most passionate tone imaginable. Gurbaz fell to his knees in sajdah, dropping his bat after which. He then gathered himself to form a heart with his hands and blow a kiss to the excited Sharjah audience as well as the changing room.
But to cap off an incredible knock, he swung at a Burger ball in the next over, missed, and was bowled. Gurbaz has also scored two hundreds for the third year in a row. Gurbaz has now surpassed Mohammad Shahzad (6) in the number of ODI hundreds for Afghanistan with this knock.
After 36 overs, Afghanistan’s 200 was up, and they would have been aiming for a total well over 300. Before the final ten overs, Peter put them through a lot of trouble. He also claimed his maiden wicket in an ODI when, with Rahmat charging at him, he drew his length back, stumping the man for fifty runs.
When Omarzai struck Mulder over long-off for six two balls into the final ten overs, it was evident what he wanted to accomplish. He twice blasted Peter in the same direction, and then, after hitting him over mid-wicket for his fourth six, he reached his half-century off just thirty-two balls. During the 55-run stand with Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi was essentially a spectator, until he skied to Bavuma to leave at 13. He had attempted to smash a slower ball from Ngidi.
When Rashid reached the crease as a result, he was in trouble right away—though not because of the bowlers. After hitting Ngidi to sweeper cover and running two, he appeared to be experiencing hamstring pain and pulled up at the end of the second run. After receiving treatment on the field, he clutched his hamstring once again before skiing the next ball he faced that Peter was unable to reach. Rashid stayed with Omarzai during his almost 300-day conquest of Afghanistan, thus whatever fitness issues he had did not manifest themselves in combat.
With the return of captain Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi putting up a solid opening partnership of 73 runs in 14 overs, South Africa’s chase got under way. But Bavuma’s dismissal and subsequently Rashid’s inclusion into the attack prompted an enormous collapse.
Bavuma top-edged a pull off a short ball from Omarzai, and Mohammed Nabi made a great high catch. Before he could even face Rashid, who was handed the ball in the eighteenth over and caused havoc with his first delivery that teased Reeza Hendricks’ outside edge, Bavuma left. After four balls, de Zorzi attempted to push Rashid beyond the covers, but Ikram Alikhil prevailed.
As pressure mounted, South Africa went into a shell, scoring just 11 runs in the next four overs, as the spin stunned them. Hendricks appeared especially out of sorts when he stayed back in his crease to play for turn and was bowled in the 23rd over, when left-arm spinner Kharote was introduced.
Tristan Stubbs gloved a sweep off Rashid to Nabi at leg slip in the next over, and as a result, was out on review. as two balls, Markram was left with the lower-order as Kyle Verreyne failed to choose the wrong man and was out for LBW. Fortuin was bowled by his adversary Kharote off a low ball, and Mulder became Rashid’s fourth victim, beaten when he stayed back. There was no turning around for South Africa at 112 for 7.
Rashid bowled Markram with a googly to get his fifth. After that, Kharote claimed wickets to completely demolish South Africa. In the course of 20.3 overs, they lost all ten wickets.
