In the third and final ODI South Africa tour of Afghanistan in United Arab Emirates 2024South Africa secured a much-needed 7-wicket win at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium to avoid a series of whitewashes. After losing their first two games, the Proteas showed solidity with both bat and ball to win comfortably.
Afghanistan are struggling to produce a competitive result
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Afghanistan’s innings never gained momentum as wickets fell regularly. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the standout player for Afghanistan, scoring a brilliant 89 off 94 balls. He held the innings together with a composed knock of 7 fours and 4 sixes. However, there was minimal support from the rest of the batting.
Abdul Malik (9 off 19), Rahmat Shah (1 off 6) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (10 off 17) failed to make significant contributions. The middle order crumbled as Azmatullah Omarzai (2), Ikram Alikhil (4) and Mohammad Nabi (5) fell cheaply. It was only a late cameo from Allah Ghazanfar who smashed 31 off 15 balls to take Afghanistan’s total to 169 in 34 overs. Ghazanfar’s knock, including 2 fours and 3 sixes, brought some respectability to the score, but it was not enough.
South Africa’s bowling was disciplined, led by Lungi Ngidi, Ngabayomzi Peter and Andile Phehlukwayo. Ngidi took 2 wickets for 22 runs in 6 overs while Peter and Phehlukwayo also took 2 wickets conceding 22 and 17 runs in 5 and 4 overs respectively. Bjorn Fortuin also took wickets as the South African bowlers put in a solid performance.
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Aiden Markram anchors South Africa’s chase
Chasing 170 for victory, South Africa started cautiously but lost early wickets. Tony de Zorzi made 26 off 31 balls and captain Temba Bavuma made 22 for 28 before both were dismissed. Reeza Hendricks (18 off 31) also fell cheaply and left South Africa at 80/3.
However, Aiden Markram stood tall and led the chase with 69 not out off 67 balls which included 4 fours and 3 sixes. His composed innings ensured there was no further drama as he found a steady partner in Tristan Stubbs who added 42 off 26 balls to finish the match comfortably. The pair put together an unbeaten partnership that sealed the game for South Africa in 33 overs with 7 wickets in hand.
South Africa reduce the deficit of the ODI series loss with a win in the last match#AFGvSA #cricket #ODI #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/qLdjRxD4cD
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) September 23, 2024
Player of the series
Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s excellent series with the bat won him the Player of the Series award. Afghanistan won 2-1 and it was a memorable one for them, but South Africa will have the consolation of finishing the tour on a high with a win in the last game.
