AFGHANISTAN VS SOUTH AFRICA, 1ST ODI, SHARJAH, UAE, 2024: Afghanistan’s First Win Over South Africa Shocked the Cricket World in 1st ODI .
Afghanistan astounded South Africa in the opening ODI in Sharjah on Wednesday (September 18), defeating them for the very first time in their history. They had never managed to beat South Africa in their five previous matches. On this occasion, Afghanistan delivered an exceptional bowling performance, causing a batting collapse similar to their own against South Africa during the recent T20 World Cup semifinal. Afghanistan’s First Win Over South Africa Shocked the Cricket World in 1st ODI .
South Africa struggled significantly during the powerplay, finding themselves at 36/7 after just 10 overs before Wiaan Mulder pushed them past the 100-run mark. Though Afghanistan experienced a few tense moments at the start of their run chase, Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai secured a memorable victory. With this win, Afghanistan has now defeated every full-member team in international cricket except India.
Fazalhaq Farooqi started the downfall by dismissing Reeza Hendricks early on and then removing Aiden Markram in his following over. Tony de Zorzi top-edged while attempting a pull off Farooqi’s delivery before young offspinner Allah Ghazanfar stunned South Africa with a double-wicket maiden that saw Tristan Stubbs and debutant Jason Smith depart without scoring. What was 29/5 soon turned into 36/7, putting South Africa at risk of reaching their lowest ODI score ever before Mulder and Bjorn Fortuin attempted to stabilize the innings. The pair put up a valiant effort before Rashid Khan dispatched Fortuin. From that point, it was primarily Mulder who struck some powerful shots to bring up his fifty and help South Africa cross the three-figure mark.
Chasing 107 was not straightforward for Afghanistan as evidenced right from the first over. A thick outside edge saw Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught at third man for a three-ball duck, followed by Fortuin dismissing Rahmat Shah. Afghanistan approached cautiously with no pressure from the required run rate; however, South Africa maintained discipline with their bowling & kept them cautious throughout. Fortuin struck again to remove Riaz Hassan while Makram trapped Hashmatullah Shahidi leg-before-wicket.
With 47 runs still needed, another wicket could have made things tricky for Afghanistan. Nevertheless, Omarzai eased some pressure with his second six of the innings before Gulbadin took control. After gaining confidence, Gulbadin hit successive sixes off Nandre Burger to get Afghanistan back on track before targeting Andile Phehlukwayo to reach an unbeaten 34 and seal victory on what was undoubtedly a historic night for his team.
Brief scores:
South Africa scored 106 in 33.3 overs (Wiaan Mulder made 52; Fazalhaq Farooqi took 4/35, Allah Ghazanfar took 3/20) lost to Afghanistan who scored 107/4 in 26 overs (Gulbadin Naib achieved an unbeaten 34; Bjorn Fortuin claimed 2/22) by six wickets.