The African team saw this shameful day for the first time in the limited overs format, made its joint 7th lowest score in ODI

AFG vs SA:

Afghanistan bowlers performed brilliantly in the first match of the three-match ODI series against South Africa at Sharjah ground, in which they restricted the African team to a score of 106 runs.

South Africa’s team is playing a three-match bilateral series against Afghanistan in ODI format for the first time. The first match of this series is being played at Sharjah ground, in which the host Afghanistan’s bowlers have shown an amazing performance.

South African team, who won the toss and decided to bat first, were all out at a score of 106 in just 33.3 overs in this match. Fazhlak Farooqui took the maximum of 4 wickets in bowling for Afghanistan.

For the first time, South Africa’s team was restricted to limited overs format against Afghanistan

In international cricket, before this match, South Africa had played 2 ODIs and 3 T20 matches against Afghanistan in the limited overs format and their team was not all out in any match.

However, with this match, this rhythm against the Afghan team has also ended. South Africa lost 7 wickets for a score of 36 in the powerplay of the first 10 overs. After this, on the basis of the innings of 52 runs by Vian Mulder and 16 runs by Bjorn Fortuin, the team was able to cross the score of 100 runs.

There were 7 players in the batting of the African team who could not even touch the double digit figure. In bowling for Afghanistan, Fazhlak Farooqui took 4 wickets in his 7 overs, while Allah Ghazanfar took 3 wickets while star leg spinner Rashid Khan, who was returning to international cricket after a long time, managed to take 2 wickets.

South Africa made their 7th joint lowest score in ODIs

This is the 7th joint lowest score of South Africa in ODIs. The lowest score of South Africa in ODIs was in the 1993 match against Australia in which they were bowled out for 69.

Africa team’s lowest score in ODI

69 runs – vs Australia (year 1993)
83 runs – vs India (year 2023)
83 runs – vs England (year 2008)
83 runs – vs England (year 2022)
99 runs – vs India (year 2022)
101 runs – vs Pakistan (year 2000)
106 runs – vs Australia (year 2002)
106 runs – vs Afghanistan (year 2024)

South Africa being all out against Afghanistan in the limited overs format is a notable event in cricket history, especially as South Africa is considered one of the most dominant and competitive teams in cricket.

Let’s understand this event in more detail:

1. Afghanistan’s bowling dominance:

The main reason for Afghanistan’s success is their excellent bowling attack. They have experienced spinners like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman, who can trouble any team in the limited overs format.

Apart from these, young fast bowlers like Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqui have also proved themselves with consistent performance.

Afghanistan’s bowlers not only put pressure on South Africa’s batsmen, but also exposed the weaknesses in their batting.

2. South Africa’s weakness:

South Africa’s batting has always been strong, but sometimes their team struggles in weak conditions or spin-friendly pitches.

The same was the case in the match against Afghanistan. Their weakness against spin bowling gave Afghanistan an opportunity, and the Afghan bowlers capitalized on it in a great way.

3. Growing credibility of Afghanistan:

Afghanistan has rapidly emerged as a strong cricket nation in the last few years. Earlier they were considered a weak team, but now they have the ability to win against big teams.

The biggest example of their success is bowling out a big team like South Africa. This victory showed that Afghanistan is no longer a team that causes upsets in any big tournament, but is a serious contender.

4. The uncertainty of cricket:

This incident once again proved that cricket is a game of complete uncertainty. While an experienced team like South Africa was considered a strong contender for victory, Afghanistan gave them a big shock by bowling them out.

Such matches make the game even more interesting and increase the enthusiasm for cricket among the spectators.

5. Hints for the future:

It is clear from this incident that Afghanistan has now become a team that cannot be taken lightly. If they continue to perform like this, then in future they can not only register more big wins in ICC tournaments but can also emerge as a strong player in world cricket.

On the other hand, this defeat for South Africa provides an opportunity to focus on the weaknesses in their batting order.

6. Reaction from fans and media:

Cricket fans and the media have reacted widely to this incident. This match will be remembered for a long time in the history of cricket, and Afghanistan’s victory will be a source of inspiration for their players.

Questions have also been raised about South Africa’s defeat, especially about their strategy and batting performance.