South Africa save blushes with win in final ODI vs Afghanistan
- Last updated: September 22, 2024 | 20:50
Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter
Backed by some extraordinary fielding, a resurgent South Africa showed great resilience to beat Afghanistan by seven wickets in the last ODI of the three-match series for a consolation victory at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
After bundling out Afghanistan for a paltry 169 in 38 overs, South Africa chased down the target for the loss of three wickets with 102 balls to spare. Afghanistan had already won the series with two straight victories in the first two matches.
Chasing, South Africa got off to a sedated but safe start as both the openers Tony De Zorzi and Temba Bevuma added 40 runs for the first wicket. They set the tone for a successful chase.
Afghanistan bowlers failed to thwart the South African batsmen as they sailed smoothly. South Africa lost three wickets in their chase but Aiden Markram scored an unbeaten 67-ball 69 to see the visitors through.
He smashed four boundaries and three sixes during his stint at the crease as South Africa crossed the line comfortably. Tristan Stubbs and De Zorzi also chipped in with useful contributions of 26 runs each.
Earlier, a rejuvenated South African bowling attack showed a stellar performance to restrict Afghanistan to 169. It was fielding more than the bowling which did the damage. Lethargic Afghanistan batsmen were seen strolling on the pitch.
Complacency seemed to have crept in after the series win and it was evident in their action. No Afghanistan batsman except Rahmanullah Gurbaz could put up any resistance against a charged-up bowling attack of South Africa.
Afghanistan batsmen facilitated the South African bowlers by getting run outs. No South African bowler took more scalps than Afghanistan batsmen themselves throwing their wickets to reckless run outs. There were three of them while three bowlers took two wickets each.
Batting first, Afghanistan got off to a decent start as the openers Gurbaz and Abdul Malik added 27 runs for the first wicket. They were playing comfortably and looked poised to give another strong start. It was pacer Ngidi, who triggered a collapse.
He got rid of Malik, who has been called up in the side as a cover for Ibrahim Zardan. Ngidi trapped him leg before the wickets to give South Africa their first breakthrough.
Two overs later, Afghanistan lost their second wicket as an agile Ngidi was prompt to put his hands on a straight drive by Gurbaz as the ball went on to hit the stumps on the non-striker end when Rahmat had already left his crease.
Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Gurbaz knuckle down to repair the damage. Both the batsmen added 34 runs for the third wicket.
Shahidi became the next victim of another run out. Stubbs threw the ball from the third man with the agility of an Olympic sprinter and the wicketkeeper made no mistake to dismantle the bails to send the batsman packing as Afghanistan lost their third wicket, two of them being run outs.
The dismissal of Shahidi opened the floodgates for South African bowlers as they tightened the noose so much that Afghanistan batters started to suffocate.
South African bowlers choked the flow of runs, which prompted the batsmen to play reckless shots. Afghanistan kept on losing the wickets at regular intervals and could never recover from there on.
Nqabayomzi Peter got rid of Azmatullah Omarzai as the leg spinner rattled the stumps of Afghanistan’s middle-order batsman to reduce them to 79/4.
Afghanistan had started feeling the heat as they needed someone to play a big knock and share a good partnership with Gurbaz, who was waging the lone battle from one end.
Meanwhile Gurbaz, who scored a century in the last match, reached his fifty off 47 deliveries with the help of four boundaries and two sixes.
Gurbaz desperately needed a partner on the other end to complement him. But none of the Afghanistan batsmen were applying themselves and showed no willingness to stay at the crease.
There was a goof up between Ikram Alikhil and Gurbaz which resulted in the third run out. Alikhil came half the way down to the pitch and there was a chance to go back. He was found short of his crease.
Nabi also could not last long and was caught by Verreynne off Fortuin. In the next over, Gurbaz holed out to Hendricks as Phehlukwayo got his first scalp of the day.
Afghanistan were tottering at 132/7. They needed someone to anchor the innings as a lot of overs were still left. But the worst was yet to come. Nangeyalia Kharote was dismissed for a nought.
Young AM Ghazanfar took the charge in hands and started cutting loose. He played a fearless brand of cricket and hit South African bowlers all over the ground.
In his 15-ball 31 cameo, he hit three sixes and two fours and brought the score to 166 before his partner Fareed Ahmed was clean bowled by Ngidi and Peter wrapped up the innings with dismissal of Naveed Zardan.