Afghanistan Make History In Sharjah With 2-0 Lead Over South Africa In ODI Series
by SW Cricket · SportzwikiAfghanistan had an excellent start in the first of the ongoing three-match ODI series against South Africa at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The first game found the weakness of the Proteas in facing the spinners on a dry surface despite using the best of it in the first innings. But the six-wicket win for the home side was just a small move towards a bigger success.
In the second game of the series on the same ground, Hashmatullah Shahidi, the captain of Afghanistan, decided to bat first on a track that was expected to get slow in the second half of the evening. The 88-run opening partnership between Riaz Hassan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz put the foundation for them.
South Africa was hitting the good line and length but, they weren’t consistent enough in displaying those abilities with the ball in hand. Gurbaz kept on smashing the balls around the park as the spinners of the visiting side weren’t able to get the reward.
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The temperature in the afternoon was also making it hard for the fielders in the middle. The 101-run second-wicket partnership formed the spine of the Afghanistan innings. Bjorn Fortuin and Aiden Markram were the most effective of the bowling group, with a collective performance of 1/59 in 14 overs.
Gurbaz, who got things underway with a massive six over long-off against Lungi Ngidi, followed it up with a cover-drive for a four, besides pulling the short balls from Nandre Burger to gain the momentum back into his innings.
The 22-year-old celebrated his seventh century of the format, the most for the Afghanistan side. He also joins Virat Kohli in having the most hundreds (7) in ODIs before turning 23. The wicket-keeper opening batter finished with 105 in 110 deliveries, decorated with ten boundaries and three sixes with a strike rate of 95.45. For the third successive year, he has celebrated more than one century in the 50-over format, showing the upper carve of the team in this format.
From being 200 after 36 overs, they needed someone to offer the flurry of boundaries in the end to get the required momentum back in the game. The unbeaten 86-run knock at a strike rate of 172, with the help of five boundaries and six sixes from Azmatullah Omarzai, did the job for them, as they finished on 311/4 in their allotted 50 overs.
South Africa had a decent start in the chase, with their captain Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi putting up a 73-run stand for the first wicket. But, once they lost the opening wicket of Bavuma and Rashid Khan was introduced into the attack, it went backward for the tourists.
The middle order of the batting hardly had any energy in the contest. Stunned by the spin web, they went into the shell, and once the pressure of the required run rate took over them, the result came in the form of wickets.
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Rashid Khan picked up his fifth five-wicket haul in the 50-over format and finished with 5/19 in nine overs to seal the series for Afghanistan with a 177-run victory. That’s the first time they have earned a bilateral series victory over the Proteas.
That was also the sixth biggest defeat for the Proteas, while the biggest victory for Afghanistan, going past the previous record of 154 runs in 2018 against Zimbabwe on the same ground. The third and final game of the series will take place on September 22 and will offer a chance for the home series to dream a whitewash.