South Africa crumbled in front of Rashid and Gurbaz, Afghanistan created history; captured the series

Afghanistan vs South Africa: Afghanistan defeated South Africa by 177 runs in the second ODI played in Sharjah and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. In this way, the Afghanistan team created history by establishing its dominance in the very first bilateral series against South Africa. Batting first in the match, Afghanistan scored 311/4 in 50 overs, in reply, South Africa could score only 134 runs after losing all its wickets in 34.2 overs. Rashid Khan (5/19) was selected as the Player of the Match for his lethal bowling performance.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Azmatullah Omarzai did wonders with the bat

Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat first, which was proved completely right by opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz by adding 88 runs for the first wicket with Riaz Ali. Riaz contributed 29 runs in this partnership and was dismissed in the 18th over. Gurbaz played a brilliant innings and scored 105 runs in 110 balls, hitting a century, which included 10 fours and three sixes. Rahmat Shah also scored a half-century and was successful in scoring 50 runs. Azmatullah Omarzai's aggressive style was seen in the last overs and he played an unbeaten innings of 86 runs in 50 balls, hitting five fours and six sixes. For South Africa, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Nkabayomzi Peter and Nandre Burger took one wicket each.

South Africa's condition worsened in front of Rashid Khan

Chasing the target, South Africa got off to a good start with captain Temba Bavuma and Tony de Georgi adding 73 runs. Bavuma scored 38 runs off 47 balls, while Georgi scored 31 runs off 44 balls. Reeza Hendricks scored 17 and Aiden Markram scored 21 runs. Apart from these four, no other batsman could score more than 5 and the entire team collapsed on a modest score. In this way, South Africa could only reach a score of 134 from 73/0 and had to face its fifth biggest defeat in terms of runs. Rashid Khan took the maximum five wickets from Afghanistan, which is also the best performance of any bowler on his birthday.

𝐀𝐅𝐆𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐍! 🙌#AfghanAtalan have put on a remarkable all-round performance to beat South Africa by 177 runs in the 2nd ODI and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. 👏

Congratulations on the historical achievements, Atalano! 🤩
#AFGvSA pic.twitter.com/YEFo1ouinK

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) September 20, 2024

Afghanistan got its biggest victory

Let us tell you that by defeating South Africa by a margin of 177 runs, Afghanistan also registered its biggest win in terms of runs in the ODI format. Earlier, the Afghan team had won against Zimbabwe by a margin of 154 runs in 2018, but now this record has been broken.