/sportsinfo/media/member_avatars/image 59.png)
Follow Us/sportsinfo/media/media_files/HHW1afyFsOG0EWKPUM9w.png)
Afghanistan beat South Africa in the first ODI of their series on Wednesday in Sharjah. Gulbadin Naib’s amazing fielding effort was the star for the Afghanistan team when he ran out Andile Phelukwayo.
The incident happened on the final ball of the 10th over with Allah Ghazanfar bowling. The South African all-rounder was hit on his pads as the bowler went up for a huge appeal.
— Gill Bill (@bill_gill76078) September 18, 2024
Andile Phelukwayo was caught wandering outside the crease. Naib spotting the batter and used the chance to throw the ball to the stumps. The umpire had no hesitation in giving the batter run-out as South Africa collapsed to 36/7.
South Africa thrashed by Afghanistan
Earlier, Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bat first and saw his side get bowled out for 106 in the 34th over. Only 4 batters managed to reach double figures as Wiaan Mulder scored 52 off 84 balls.
Fazal Farooqi got the first three wickets of the day when he dismissed Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram. This was followed by the wicket of Tony De Zorzi for 11 as the visitors were placed at 23/3.
It was soon the turn of Allah Ghazanfar who got the wickets of Tristan Stubbs, Jason Smith, and Kyle Verreynne. None of the South African batters could face up to the relentless pressure exerted by the Afghanistan pacers.
Chasing 107 to win, Afghanistan got to the target with 24 overs to go and 6 wickets in hand. Gulbadin Naib was the best batter with 34 not out from 27 balls, while Azmatullah Omarzai was not out on 25. The next two games in the series will be played on Friday and Sunday.
Speaking at the end of the game, Markram said, “We were a few runs short. Some good honest reflections can take place tonight and tomorrow and we can come up with better plans on Friday. They made it tough for us but I still believe we are a better batting unit. We need solid gameplans and put pressure back on them. We couldn't put them under pressure. Honest learnings. We will look to bounce back. Gameplans and approaches would be different for each player but as long as it toes the team's line we will be fine.”