Fazalhaq Farooqi and the 18-year-old sensation Allah Mohammad Ghzanfar were the standout performers as Afghanistan secured their first-ever victory against South Africa in international cricket.
Winning the toss, South Africa chose to bat first but were quickly rattled by Farooqi's early breakthroughs. The left-arm pacer, coming around the wicket, dismissed Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram in the initial stages of the match.
Farooqi also claimed the wicket of Tony de Zorzi, paving the way for Ghazanfar to showcase his talent by removing Tristan Stubbs and debutant Jason Smith for ducks in the same over.
With South Africa struggling at 29/5, Ghazanfar continued his dominance by dismissing Kyle Verreynne and Andile Phehlukwayo, leading to a collapse that saw South Africa at 36/7.
A resilient half-century from Wiaan Mulder, supported by a valuable contribution from Bjorn Fortuin, helped South Africa reach a total of 106. However, it was not enough to challenge Afghanistan's strong position.
Despite a promising start with the ball, Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai and Gulbadin Naib's unbeaten partnership guided their team to a historic victory.
This win marks Afghanistan's first triumph in six matches against South Africa across different formats. Notably, Afghanistan had suffered a defeat against South Africa in the semi-finals of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, where they were bowled out for just 56 runs.
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