Tags: UAE 2024 Afghanistan v South Africa, Afghanistan v South Africa, 1st ODI in Sharjah, 18 September 2024, Afghanistan, South Africa
Published Date: September 19, 2024
Scorecard | Commentary | graph
In a landmark achievement for Afghanistan cricket, Afghanistan recorded their first win against South Africa in international cricket led by outstanding bowling performances from Fazalhaq Farooqi and 18-year-old spin sensation Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar.
South Africa, who won the toss and chose to bat, quickly regretted that decision. Left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi’s early attack sent shockwaves through the South African line-up as he dismissed top batsmen Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram. His dominance did not end there, as he also snatched the wicket of Tony de Zorzi, leaving South Africa struggling to recover.
But the turning point in the game came with the emergence of young prodigy Alla. Mohammad Ghazanfar. In the brilliant performance of spin bowlingGhazanfar dismantled South Africa’s middle order, removing Tristan Stubbs and debutant Jason Smith in the same over. On May 29, South Africa was in complete chaos. Ghazanfar then leveraged the pressure further, claiming the wickets of Kyle Verreynne and Andile Phehlukwayo, with Phehlukwayo falling victim to a run-out.
Despite resistance from Wiaan Mulder, who contributed a tough half-century, and South Africa’s Bjorn Fortuin, they could only score a paltry total of 106 runs. With such small goals, Afghanistan was faced with the task of maintaining composure to secure a historic victory.
There were difficulties in Afghanistan’s chase, but Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib steadied the ship with an unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership to steer Afghanistan to a memorable victory. Their composed batting enabled Afghanistan to reach the target and etched their names in cricket history.
This victory has special significance for Afghanistan. This was Afghanistan’s first victory in any format against South Africa, having lost all five previous encounters. Recently, Afghanistan were bowled out for a disappointing 56 runs by the same opposition in the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, making this victory even more satisfying.
With this result, Afghanistan have now recorded wins against every major cricketing nation except India and Nepal, the latter a rare encounter in which they have played just one match. This landmark win reflects Afghanistan’s growing stature in international cricket and demonstrates the emergence of young talents such as Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar along with the consistent excellence of Fazalhaq Farooqi.
