107/4 (26.0)
CR : 4.12
106/10 (33.3)
CR : 3.16
Afghanistan won by 6 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Fazalhaq Farooqi
4/35
10:38 PM IST & 9:08 PM Local Time| A historic win for Afghanistan at the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium which hosted its 250th One Day International Encounter today between Afghanistan and South Africa. It turned out to be a special for the hosts as they registered their first ever victory against South Africa. A 6 wicket win for the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side who chased down the target comfortably with 24 overs to spare.
Earlier in the day, Stand-in Skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bat first. The Proteas completely misread the pitch and played just one frontline spinner in the Playing XI while their opponents had four.
South Africa got off to a horrid start with the bat in the series opener as the wickets were falling like a pack of cards inside the powerplay. They lost 7 wickets for just 36 runs in the powerplay and were in all sorts of trouble. Their lowest ever score of 69 in ODI Cricket was on the cards to be broken.
They badly required a partnership and it was Wiaan Mulder to the rescue. Walked into bat at Number 7 and built up two useful partnerships with Bjorn Fortuin and Nandre Burger which was of 39 & 30 runs respectively. The South African All-Rounder registered his maiden ODI fifty and single-handedly took the Proteas score over 100. He was dismissed right after completing his half century by Rashid Khan. South Africa eventually were bundled out for 106 in 33.3 overs.
Fazalhaq Farooqi was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan with figures off 4/35. Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar was terrific too as he bowled 10 overs on the trot and finished off with figures off 3/20. Afghanistan required to chase down 107 runs from their 50 overs.
In reply, South Africa got the early breakthrough straightaway as Rahmanullah Gurbaz who was looking to break the shackles early on in his Innings was sent back to the pavilion without disturbing the scorers. Riaz Hassan (16 off 35) and Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (16 off 29) chipped in with a few runs but wickets were falling in regular intervals for Afghanistan which kept South Africa pretty much in the game.
It required a good partnership to seal the deal for the home side and it was the 5th wicket partnership between Azmatullah Omarzai (25* off 36) and Gulbadin Naib (34* off 27) who added an unbeaten 47 runs together to get their side over the line comfortably. A comprehensive win at the end for Afghanistan who registered their first ever win against South Africa. Stay tuned for the Post Match Presentations.
Earlier in the day, Stand-in Skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bat first. The Proteas completely misread the pitch and played just one frontline spinner in the Playing XI while their opponents had four.
South Africa got off to a horrid start with the bat in the series opener as the wickets were falling like a pack of cards inside the powerplay. They lost 7 wickets for just 36 runs in the powerplay and were in all sorts of trouble. Their lowest ever score of 69 in ODI Cricket was on the cards to be broken.
They badly required a partnership and it was Wiaan Mulder to the rescue. Walked into bat at Number 7 and built up two useful partnerships with Bjorn Fortuin and Nandre Burger which was of 39 & 30 runs respectively. The South African All-Rounder registered his maiden ODI fifty and single-handedly took the Proteas score over 100. He was dismissed right after completing his half century by Rashid Khan. South Africa eventually were bundled out for 106 in 33.3 overs.
Fazalhaq Farooqi was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan with figures off 4/35. Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar was terrific too as he bowled 10 overs on the trot and finished off with figures off 3/20. Afghanistan required to chase down 107 runs from their 50 overs.
In reply, South Africa got the early breakthrough straightaway as Rahmanullah Gurbaz who was looking to break the shackles early on in his Innings was sent back to the pavilion without disturbing the scorers. Riaz Hassan (16 off 35) and Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi (16 off 29) chipped in with a few runs but wickets were falling in regular intervals for Afghanistan which kept South Africa pretty much in the game.
It required a good partnership to seal the deal for the home side and it was the 5th wicket partnership between Azmatullah Omarzai (25* off 36) and Gulbadin Naib (34* off 27) who added an unbeaten 47 runs together to get their side over the line comfortably. A comprehensive win at the end for Afghanistan who registered their first ever win against South Africa. Stay tuned for the Post Match Presentations.
A massive moment for Afghanistan who have registered their first ever victory against South Africa. This is also their third biggest win in terms of balls to spare against a Test playing nation.
Biggest win by Balls remaining for Afghanistan (vs a Test playing Nation)
By 173 balls remaining vs Zimbabwe at Sharjah (2018)
By 157 balls remaining vs Ireland at Belfast (2018)
By 144 balls remaining vs South Africa at Sharjah (2024)*
By 173 balls remaining vs Zimbabwe at Sharjah (2018)
By 157 balls remaining vs Ireland at Belfast (2018)
By 144 balls remaining vs South Africa at Sharjah (2024)*
10:57 PM IST & 9:27 PM Local Time| Time for the Post Match Presentations.
Aiden Markram (South Africa Captain): "There are a lot of honest learnings to take away from this game, we failed to put them under pressure. We will look to bounce back in the next game. Gameplans and approaches for each individual batter will be there, it will be different but as long as there is a clear plan, we should be able to win the next one."
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan Captain): "We are looking forward to winning this series and we are also fully prepared to take on the challenge which unfolds in the upcoming two games. We will give our best to win the ODI Series."
Player of the Match : Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Well that's it from today folks! A historic day for the record books of Afghanistan! Join us back tomorrow as we bring you all the LIVE cricketing action from around the world!
Until then, this is Anirudh Modi, signing off along with my co-commentator Pritam Dey, and our scorer/analyst Zeeshan Naiyer! See you on the next one!
Until then, this is Anirudh Modi, signing off along with my co-commentator Pritam Dey, and our scorer/analyst Zeeshan Naiyer! See you on the next one!