AFG vs SA: Afghanistan’s first victory over South Africa in the ODI cricket series made history: A brilliant bowling performance gave Afghanistan their first win over South Africa in international cricket.
Fazalhaq Farooqi and 18-year-old sensation Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar played key roles in Afghanistan’s win, this is the first time Afghanistan has beaten South Africa in any format.
After winning the toss, South Africa decided to bat first but Farooqi’s early blows left them stunned. The left-arm pacer sent Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram back to the pavilion in quick succession.
Farooqi also picked up the wicket of Tony de Zorzi, then Ghazanfar wreaked havoc on the middle order, dismissing Tristan Stubbs and debutant Jason Smith in the same over.
Ghazanfar took the wicket of Kyle Verreynne and Andile Phehlukwayo was run out, following which South Africa were reduced to 36/7 after being reduced to 29/5.
Wiaan Mulder’s belligerent half-century and Bjorn Fortuin’s helpful knock took South Africa to three figures, but a mere 106-run score was not enough for them.
Despite a good start with the ball, Azmatullah Umarzai and Gulbadin Naib’s unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership powered Afghanistan to a historic win.
Afghanistan has defeated the Proteas for the first time in six meetings. Recently, they were bowled out for just 56 against South Africa in the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With this win, Afghanistan have now registered at least one win in the format against all teams except India and Nepal (played only one match).
Source: ICC
AFG vs SA 1st ODI Scorecard
AFG Innings: 107-4- 26 Overs
| Batting | Dismissal | R | B | 4s | 6s | S/R |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) | c Jason Smith b Lungi Ngidi | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Riaz Hassan | b Bjorn Fortuin | 16 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 45.71 |
| Rahmat Shah | lbw b Bjorn Fortuin | 8 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 30.76 |
| Hashmatullah Shahidi (c) | lbw b Aiden Markram | 16 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 55.17 |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | not out | 25 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 69.44 |
| Gulbadin Naib | not out | 34 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 125.92 |
| Mohammad Nabi | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Rashid Khan | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| AM Ghazanfar | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Fazalhaq Farooqi | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nangeyalia Kharote | – | – | – | – | – | – |
SA Innings:106-10- 33.3 Overs
| Batting | Dismissal | R | B | 4s | 6s | S/R |
| Reeza Hendricks | b Fazalhaq Farooqi | 9 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 75 |
| Tony de Zorzi | c Hashmatullah Shahidi b Fazalhaq Farooqi | 11 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 61.11 |
| Aiden Markram (c) | b Fazalhaq Farooqi | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| Tristan Stubbs | c Mohammad Nabi b AM Ghazanfar | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Verreynne (wk) | lbw b AM Ghazanfar | 10 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 90.90 |
| Jason Smith | b AM Ghazanfar | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wiaan Mulder | b Fazalhaq Farooqi | 52 | 84 | 5 | 1 | 61.90 |
| Andile Phehlukwayo | run out (Gulbadin Naib) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bjorn Fortuin | b Rashid Khan | 16 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 47.05 |
| Nandre Burger | not out | 1 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 5.55 |
| Lungi Ngidi | lbw b Rashid Khan | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
