Afghanistan ease to victory after South Africa fold for 106
Farooqi and Ghazanfar shared seven wickets between them to trigger a South Africa collapse
Farooqi and Ghazanfar shared seven wickets between them to trigger a South Africa collapse
Scorer: Sudeep Poojar | Commentator: S Sudarshanan
Right then. A lot to work for for South Africa to come back in this series. And the turnaround time is not too long. The games come thick and fast, with the second ODI slated for day after tomorrow. Hope to have your company for that. On behalf of Ranjith, Sudeep and Aaditya, this is Sudarshanan bidding you goodbye. Ciao, aficionados!
9:09pm A maiden win for Afghanistan over South Africa and this is their third-biggest win in terms of balls to spare against a Test-playing nation. The Jonathan Trott-coached outfit continues to take giant strides in white-ball cricket, and this is a win that was purely set up by their bowlers. With regular opener Ibrahim Zadran missing due to injury and Gurbaz out early, Afghanistan faced a few early jitters, with the top order taking a lot of time to just get in. But once Shahidi and Omarzai walked in, Afghanistan started to breathe easier. Omarzai stayed unbeaten and in company of Naib, Afghanistan's everywhere-man, they created history. South Africa fought hard but a few missed chances did not help, and then their opponents never let them in.
Often with the lesser-ranked sides, their batting caves in under pressure. But their bowling performance ensured that there was very little scope for the Afghan batters to have an off day. Afghanistan had never lost chasing a total under 129; South Africa had never won defending a similar score - Omarzai and Naib ensured that stat remained unchanged. They completed the job that Farooqi and Ghazanfar started in the first hour of the teams' first bilateral series.
Just one needed
Farooqi and Ghazanfar shared seven wickets between them to trigger a South Africa collapse
All the big numbers from South Africa's collapse to 106 against Afghanistan in Sharjah
The first ever bilateral series between the two teams will be played against the backdrop of severe criticism from one of South Africa's top human rights organisations