Sharjah: Rashid Khan’s brilliant five-wicket haul helped Afghanistan make history on Friday, as they won their first ODI series against South Africa by 177 runs in the second match of the three-match series. Afghanistan’s 177-run victory is their greatest by runs in ODIs, surpassing their previous best of 154 runs against Zimbabwe.
Afghanistan won the opening match by six wickets on Wednesday, and Friday’s success handed them a commanding 2-0 lead in the three-match series. It was also a memorable series triumph against another Test-playing nation.
Electing to bat first, Afghanistan rode on a blazing century by opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz and half-centuries by Rahmat Shah (50) and Azmatullah Omarzai (86 not out) to post a challenging total of 311/4 in 50 overs.
In response, South Africa failed to capitalise on a 73-run opening partnership, suffered a middle and lower order collapse, and was bowled out for 134 in 34.2 overs, resulting in a massive defeat with approximately 15 overs remaining. Rashid Khan finished with figures of 9-1-19-5, while Nangeyalia Kharote scored 5-19 runs in Afghanistan’s colossal triumph.
Gurbaz got his seventh century in ODIs when captain Hashmatullah Shahidi chose to bat first, breaking Ahmad Shahzad’s record for most hundreds by an Afghan batter.
He shared an 88-run partnership with fellow opener Riaz Hassan (29) for the first wicket, finishing his half-century in 56 deliveries. The pair then combined 101 runs for the second wicket, with Rahman scoring a 66-ball 50 that included two boundaries.
Gurbaz reached the milestone off 107 balls, hitting 10 boundaries and three maximums along the way. He survived a DRS referral and scored 105 off 110 balls before being cleaned up by Nandre Burget with a length ball thrown from around the wicket that nipped back and struck the top of the stumps as Gurbaz swung and missed.
Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai scored an unbeaten 86 off 50 balls, hitting five boundaries and six massive sixes to help them reach a large total. South Africa, chasing a target of 312, started well, with skipper Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi scoring 73 runs in 14 overs. Bavuma scored 38 off 47 deliveries, hitting four boundaries and one six.
Tony de Zorzi scored 31 runs off 44 balls, and Reeza Hendriks (17) and Aiden Markram (21) helped South Africa reach 103/4 in the 24th over when Cristan Stubbs was dismissed for five. They lost their way from that strong position, with seasoned spinner Rashid Khan and left-arm spinner with statistics of 6.2, resulting in the semi-cautious stage.
Brief scores
Afghanistan 311/4 in 50 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 105, Rahmat Shah 50, Azmatullah Omarzai 86 not out; Aiden Markram 1-20) beat South Africa 134 all out in 34.2 overs (Temba Bavuma 38, Tony de Zorzi 31; Rashid Khan 5-19, Nangeyalia Kharote 4-26) by 177 runs.
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–IANS
