South Africa lost their top order cheaply and succumbed to a big defeat and now need to play catch-up, and Afghanistan will take great confidence from a historic first win over South Africa in ODI cricket.
All of the matches in this series will take place at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Afghanistan vs South Africa | Second ODI | Friday 20 September 2024 | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah | 14:00
Afghanistan
In the opener, Fazalhaq Farooqi gave Bangladesh the edge with a stunning opening spell that took out the Proteas top order. The paceman will get another crack at that top order on Friday.
That first match was also a great one for teenage off-spinner Allah Ghazanfar who impressed with his three wickets.
Afghanistan have secured white-ball international wins over England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia and now South Africa and can no longer be written off.
With just 106 runs on the board for Afghanistan to chase down there was little chance at all that any batters would be allowed to impress but Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib steadied the ship after a tough start.
South Africa
South Africa slumped to their worst-ever start to an ODI innings with their effort of 36 for 7 in the first ten overs. They would need a 38-run stand between Wiaan Mulder and Bjorn Fortuin to ensure they avoided tallying their lowest-ever total in the format.
The Proteas threatened to get away to a good start until Farooqi struck, removing Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi and Aiden Markram in the space of three overs giving South Africa a lot to ponder about their batting.
Mulder’s 50 was the only real positive for the Proteas with bat in hand but things weren’t really that much better with the ball.
South Africa fielded just one frontline spinner while Afghanistan used three and Bjorn Fortuin was the pick of their bowlers. We can probably expect the bowling attack composition to be altered for Friday’s match.
Verdict: Afghanistan
Confidence is king in cricket and while South Africa would be hard-pressed to play worse, Afghanistan will be determined to clinch a famous series win.
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