Afghanistan’s opening bowlers, Fazalhaq Farooqi and AM Ghazanfar, shocked South Africa during the powerplay, leaving them at their worst-ever start in ODIs: 36 for 7 after just ten overs. A partnership of 39 runs between Wiaan Mulder and Bjorn Fortuin helped South Africa avoid their lowest ODI total of 69, but they still finished with the lowest score by a top-ten ranked team against Afghanistan on a slow, dry pitch.
Afghanistan has never failed to chase a target below 130 runs, and despite a shaky start, they maintained that record. After being at 38 for 3 in the 14th over, Hashmatullah Shahidi steadied the innings. A strong fifth-wicket partnership of 47 runs between Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib off 48 balls secured Afghanistan’s win, as they completed the chase with 24 overs to spare.
The match highlighted Afghanistan’s dominance from the beginning. Farooqi, who initially conceded 14 runs in his first 11 balls, switched his angle from over to around the wicket, which paid off. In his second over, he bowled out Reeza Hendricks, who reached for a wide ball, and later dismissed Aiden Markram, who was captaining in Temba Bavuma’s absence. Farooqi’s third wicket came when Tony de Zorzi top-edged a pull shot to Shahidi at midwicket.
Ghazanfar, playing in just his third ODI, took a little longer to make an impact. He got his first wicket in his fourth over when Tristan Stubbs edged a push to slip. Shortly after, he bowled Jason Smith and had Kyle Verreynne lbw after a review upheld the decision. Andile Phehlukwayo managed to survive a few balls but was run out by a sharp Gulbadin Naib, leaving South Africa in dire straits at 36 for 7.
Fortuin attempted to stabilize the innings with two boundaries off Rashid Khan’s third over. They reached 50 runs in the 16th over, with Mulder showing resilience, hitting the only six of the innings off Rashid and scoring a half-century. However, when Mulder fell to Farooqi, South Africa’s innings crumbled, and they were bowled out in under 34 overs, raising questions about their batting strategy.
South Africa also needed to evaluate their bowling lineup, which had only one specialist spinner, Fortuin, compared to Afghanistan’s three spinners. Despite making early breakthroughs, South Africa struggled to contain Afghanistan’s batting. Lungi Ngidi dismissed Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over, putting Afghanistan in trouble, and Ngidi and Nandre Burger kept the pressure on for the first seven overs.
Afghanistan’s first boundary came after Fortuin’s introduction, and they started gaining momentum. Although Mulder dropped a catch that could have dismissed Riaz Hasan, the Afghan batsman eventually got going. Rahmat Shah’s dismissal brought on more spin, but Azmatullah and Naib took advantage of the opportunities.
Azmatullah hit Markram for six and continued to score freely, while Naib also found success against the bowling. The match ended with Afghanistan finishing strongly, celebrating a historic victory that left the Sharjah crowd and their dressing room elated.
