Afghanistan Vs South Africa T20I Match Preview
Afghanistan secured their inaugural bilateral series victory and first against a team ranked among the top five with an emphatic 177-run win against South Africa, led by Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai’s exceptional batting performances.
Rashid Khan celebrated his 26th birthday by taking five wickets to shatter Proteas batting while debutant left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote claimed four wickets – both making their respective debuts against Proteas batsmen.
Here we will discuss the main points of Afghanistan National Cricket Team vs South Africa National Cricket Team Match Scorecard.
Afghanistan: Azmatullah Omarzai (c)
Azmatullah Omarzai has proven one of Afghanistan’s most consistent batsmen over recent times. He has scored 343 runs in 27 innings at an average of 40.62 with seven fifties and five fours, making an important contribution towards Afghanistan’s comeback victory against Sri Lanka in Pallekele; sharing an opening 151-run partnership with Mohammad Nabi to overcome an initial weak start to their innings.
Azmatullah is an extremely promising young talent and his performance in this match has solidified his growing international standing. An excellent batsman with an outstanding grasp of game tactics, Azmatullah can deliver big shots when necessary and is unafraid to take risks when necessary – showing great promise as one of Afghanistan’s future key players.
Rabada bowled the eighth over and opened by striking Janat high on his front pad for a muted LBW appeal, before bowling one fuller towards the stumps; Janat tried to get on top of it but missed and was caught at short third man.
Fortuin returns to his bowling, targeting Riaz Hassan with an off-spinner outside off. Riaz leans forward but loses his balance, as the ball takes a sudden bounce and hits his stumps for 16 not out.
Fazalhaq Farooqi (wk)
Farooqi hails from Baghlan and made his debut with Amo Region at the Alokozay Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day tournament in 2017. Following that success, national selectors selected him to represent Afghanistan at the 2020 Under-19 World Cup; playing four matches during that tournament while taking five wickets to help his side advance into the semi-finals.
He emerged as one of the tournament’s leading wicket-takers, tied for first with India’s Arshdeep Singh. Since then, he has become a regular part of Afghanistan’s squad; making his T20I debut against Zimbabwe on March 2021 and making T20I debut against Zimbabwe just months later in March 2021. Although he has yet to play a Test match himself, his impressive showing at T20 World Cup helped secure his position within it.
Farooqi will look to add to his impressive 17 wicket haul from this tournament in their match against South Africa. His skiddy action allows him to quickly rush opposing batters while simultaneously swinging the ball right-handed batsmen’s way; Farooqi has much to offer the Afghanistan cricket team moving forward; thus his performance during this ODI will be crucial.
On September 18, Afghanistan and South Africa will face off in their first One-Day International (ODI). Scheduled to start at 5:30 PM IST, Indian fans can watch live via FanCode website or app and broadcaster Eurosport in India. Afghanistan hosts this bilateral ODI series against South Africa for the first time ever with Hashmatullah Shahidi leading his side and Rahmat Shah acting as vice-captain – both teams have shown excellent form so far, so it will be interesting to see which team emerge victorious!
Gulbadin Naib (wk)
Gulbadin Naib is an accomplished all-rounder, adept at both bating and bowling with skill. A key player for Afghanistan, his talent, determination, and composure make him a valuable member of their squad – something Delhi Capitals are thrilled about as he joins their ranks aged 26 years.
Wankhede Stadium, famous for its electric atmosphere and batting-friendly surface, played host to the second ODI between South Africa and India, known for its electrifying atmosphere and welcoming batting surface. South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first after winning their recent form on this ground.
And they were rewarded when India reached 283/1 in 18.2 overs, with Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma both scoring centuries to set up victory for India. But then their bowlers struck regularly to keep Proteas at bay and ensure a crushing win!
Kagiso Rabada led South Africa’s bowlers with six wickets at 6/46 as Reeza Hendricks, Tony de Zorzi and Rashid Khan fell for scores of 106-3 to leave Bangladesh reeling at 106-3. When their target of 106 became within reach, South Africa brought on Taijul Islam but this failed to derail Bangladeshi’s innings taking only three wickets for 43 runs taken by him in three overs.
Miller struck two sixes and four fours to give the visitors control, but was trapped leg before by Naveen-ul-Haq and trapped leg before. With rain forecast for later, umpires called off play due to impending thunderstorms.
South Africa and Afghanistan will meet for their inaugural One-Day International series between September 18-22. Aiden Markram will replace Temba Bavuma as captain due to illness; both teams hope that this series can provide invaluable ODI experience ahead of the World Cup.
Rashid Khan (wk)
As one of the most promising young spinners in international cricket, Rashid Khan was bound to achieve great things. And indeed he has lived up to expectations by becoming one of the youngest ever bowlers to reach number one in ICC T20I bowler rankings and earning himself the ICC Associate Cricketer of the Year award in 2017.
His performance in the second One Day International (ODI) was nothing short of exceptional, taking four wickets and scoring an unbeaten 19-ball half century in helping India overcome South Africa. It was his inaugural five-wicket haul ever in an ODI and it could not have made him happier!
He discussed his experience playing against one of the top-ranked sides and how it provided Afghanistan’s young cricketers an incredible opportunity to learn from Proteas quicks, and quickly improve their game in both practice and matches. He even thanked his physio for helping him recover in time for their second one-day international.
20-year-old Nangeyalia Kharote was thrilled to join his comrades Gulbadin Naib and Nangeyalia Kharote on the team, noting their willingness to work hard during training sessions and matches, which has enabled rapid progress. According to Nangeyalia Kharote, Afghan cricket’s next generation boasts plenty of talent and will likely take it by storm in future.
Rashid will aim to maintain his impressive form when Afghanistan face South Africa for the third ODI of this series at Nelson Mandela Stadium on Sunday. Rashid is determined to cause more misery for South Africa and put this series out of their grasp.
Nangeyalia Kharote (wk)
Nangeyalia Kharote was key in Afghanistan’s success against South African batsmen, picking up two wickets during this match and becoming one of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Nangeyalia Kharote’s primary batsmen with only 13 runs conceded over four overs – which made an impactful statement to South Africa batsmen who may otherwise have otherwise scored easily against Afghanistan’s batters.
Nangeyalia received the Man of the Match award for her efforts in this series. As an impressive young cricketer, Nangeyalia hopes to continue improving upon her impressive performances and build on their already remarkable record in future matches.
28.4: Bjorn Fortuin to Mohammad Nabi, Out! A strong appeal by the home side for caught behind is rejected as UltraEdge evidence shows it to have passed just beyond Nabi’s bat edge and into play.
The wicketkeeper-batswoman may have been unsatisfied with her performance as she suffered the misfortune to lose a review, as well as being guilty of poor running between wickets that led to one more wicket being lost at the end.
32.1: Nangeyalia Kharote to Aiden Markram, Out! Leg Before Wicket (LBW ). Markram plays down the wrong line to this short delivery and is hit on the inside edge by it – hence no possible play was possible resulting in this decision being upheld as no play was possible.
South Africa were well on their way to a dominant victory despite losing three wickets within just a few balls, thanks to Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen’s stellar bowling efforts that provided South Africa a real chance of taking down this series in their own backyard despite Captain Rashid Khan having suffered a hamstring strain during game one and Rahmanullah Gurbaz being Afghanistan’s leading run scorer but falling 11 short of reaching another one-day century scorer mark.
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