By Razeen Gutta
It was a memorable day for Afghanistan as they got their three match series against South Africa off to a flyer with a six-wicket win.
Despite winning the toss, the Proteas simply could not cope with the Sharjah conditions — losing seven wickets in the powerplay for just 36 runs.
Wiaan Mulder put up a fight to steady the innings, but the eventual total of 106 before being bowled out in the 34th over was hardly ever going to be enough.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the first to go as Lungi Ngidi and Bjorn Fortuin looked for some vital early inroads.
Gulbadin Naib and Azmatullah Omarzai steadied proceedings to ensure the chase would be a successful one, though, with Afghanistan winning in just over half of the allotted overs.
Fazalhaq Farooqi (4/35) and Allah Ghazanfar (3/20) would be the eventual stars, as their performances with the ball made for a big opening day statement.
The result sets up proceedings nicely as South Africa are sure to come out all guns blazing to save the series on Friday.
“Some good honest reflections can take place tonight and tomorrow and we can come up with better plans on Friday,” Aiden Markram said post-match.
“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,” the Protess captain added.
Pictured above: South Africa stunned by Afghanistan
Source: @proteasmencsa
