Afghanistan equal India's 25-year-old ODI record against South Africa in Sharjah
Afghanistan registered their biggest ever win in ODIs beating South Africa by 177 runs on Friday (September 20). They had posted 311 runs on the board after opting to bat first and then restricted the opposition to just 134 thanks to Rashid Khan and Nangeyalia Kharote.
by Edited By: Aditya Kukalyekar · India TVRashid Khan and Nangeyalia Kharote starred for Afghanistan in their second consecutive win over South Africa in the ongoing ODI series. This win also sealed their first-ever bilateral series win in ODIs over the team in the top five in ICC rankings. For the unversed, Afghanistan defended 311 runs with aplomb winning by a huge margin of 177 runs as the Proteas batters had no answers to their spin with the Rashid-Kharote duo sharing nine wickets between them.
With this effort, Afghanistan equalled India's all-time record which was registered back in 1999 in Nairobi. South Africa have now lost nine wickets to spin against Afghanistan and India both in their rich ODI history. In 1999, Sunil Joshi had picked up a five-wicket haul for India while Nikhil Chopra scalped three and Vijay Bharadwaj accounted for a solitary wicket.
In Sharjah, on Friday (September 20), Rashid Khan picked up a five-wicket haul while Kharote accounted for four as the duo easily skittled South Africa for just 134 runs despite the visitors being 73/0 at one stage.
Most wickets by spinners in an ODI innings vs SA
India - 9 wickets in 1999
Afghanistan - 9 wickets in 2024
West Indies - 8 wickets in 1996
Sri Lanka - 8 wickets in 1998
India - 8 wickets in 2000
As for the match, Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the star of the day for Afghanistan smashing his seventh century in the format. Azmatullah Omarzai contributed as well with an unbeaten 86 off just 50 balls that helped his side push the score past the 300-run mark. Rahmat Shah was another batter to reach the half-century in the innings. The chase of 312 runs was always going to be tough for South Africa but they succumbed pretty meekly due to their inability to play spin.