Afghanistan vs South Africa ODI
2nd ODI: AFG vs SA

Preview

Nobody saw it coming as Afghanistan has taken a 1-0 lead over South Africa in the 3-match ODI series on Wednesday. The Afghans hammered South Africa by 6 wickets in the first ODI following their exceptional and lethal bowling by Fazalhaq Farooqi, AM Ghazanfar and others. The second match of this 3-match ODI series is scheduled to take place at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on Friday, 20th September 2024. Plus, it is going to be the same venue which was used in the first ODI match between the two sides.

Speaking of the first ODI, Hashmatullah Shahidi-led AFG has created history by defeating South Africa for the first time in an ODI. In that match, The Proteas batted first and somehow managed to score 106 runs in 33.3 overs. In reply, the Afghanistan team scored 107 runs in 26 overs after losing 4 wickets. SA was in very bad shape in the match and found themself in big trouble when their 7 wickets fell on the score of 36 runs. After the top order faltered, Wiaan Mulder, batting at number seven, somehow kept South Africa's innings alive and the score crossed 100 runs, he played an innings of 52 runs for his side. Apart from him, no other batter was successful in establishing himself at the crease.

In the victory against South Africa, Afghanistan bowlers Fazal Haq Farooqi and Allah Ghazanfar bowled exceptionally well. Together, they dismissed seven South African batters. Farooqi got 4 wickets, while Ghazanfar took three wickets. Ghazanfar conceded only 20 runs in his 10-over spell. Apart from these two, Rashid Khan also got the two big fishes. Afghanistan had a very bad start while chasing the target of just 107 runs given by the Proteas, they lost their first wicket on the score of a duck. After the initial setback, the Afghanistan batters started playing cautiously and spent time on the pitch showing prudence. However, during this period, South African bowlers also tried their best, but they could take only four wickets before 107 runs. In this way, the Proteas had to face its first defeat against Afghanistan in ODI cricket.

Now Afghans have a good chance to seal the series by 2-0 on Friday if they win either of the remaining matches of this series. Proteas' batters will need to find a better way of taking them on in this game on Friday.

AFG and SA have faced each other 03 times in the ODI format. Of these 03 matches, SA won two matches and Afghanistan was victorious in one match.

Match Details

Match: AFG vs SA, 2nd ODI, Afghanistan vs South Africa ODI

Date: Friday, September 20, 2024

Time: 05:30 PM

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Pitch and Weather Report

Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, is known to be a good batting pitch. The new white ball will move around a bit, particularly under lights, but once the pitch settles down, batters can milk the runs comfortably. This venue has hosted 250 matches so far, out of which 132 were won by the batting first side and 116 by the chasing side. The average score batting first in ODIs here is 241 runs.

With that record, both side's skippers will be keen to the crucial toss, and bowl first and put pressure on the opposition by taking advantage of the deck. Batters, though, can expect a nice time here and would try to restrict the batting side on or before the score of 245-255 runs.

During the match, the temperature in Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates is predicted to be around 29-37 degrees Celsius, with the humidity level crossing over 50%. There is going to be light wind on the ground at the speed of 23 km/h. There is no rain expected for the match day and it is going to be a sunny day in UAE.

AFG vs SA Squads

AFG: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah (vice-captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Ikram Alikhil (wicket-keeper), Abdul Malik, Riaz Hassan, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran, Farid Ahmad Malik

SA: Temba Bavuma (captain), Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Nqaba Peter, Andile Simelane, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs (wicket-keeper), Kyle Verreynne (wicket-keeper), Lizaad Williams

AFG vs SA Probable Playing XIs

AFG: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Nageyalia Kharote, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Match Prediction

Before the start of this series, Proteas were the favourite to win this series without having any trouble. However, after the Afghans' performance in the first ODI, the underdog now surely has become a favourite side for the second match as well. We back Afghanistan to win this match.

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