ODI World Cup 2023: South Africa restrict Afghanistan to 244 runs

Afghanistan won the toss in their final match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 against South Africa and chose to bat first. Afghanistan used the same lineup as in their previous game, and South Africa started Andile Phehlukwayo and Gerald Coetzee in place of Marco Jansen and Tabraiz Shamsi. Afghanistan scored 244 runs. Here is a recap of the first innings.

Afghanistan lose 3 quick wickets

In the first two overs, Ibrahim Zadran hit two fours off the bowling of Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada. In the fourth over, Zadran hit Ngidi for another four. In the fifth over, Rahmanullah Gurbaz got his arms free and blasted a six. Ngidi hurt his left ankle and departed the pitch after bowling three balls in the sixth over. During the seventh and eighth overs, Gurbaz struck three fours. In the ninth over, Keshav Maharaj entered the attack and dismissed Gurbaz with the first delivery of the innings. In the next over, Gerald Coetzee dismissed Zadran. Afghanistan lost two wickets but managed to score 41 runs during the powerplay. For his second wicket, Maharaj got rid of Hashmatullah Shahidi in the eleventh over.

Rahmat and Omarzai provide some support

Afghanistan lost three wickets in short succession, moving from 41/0 to 45/3. Afghanistan’s streak of success came to an abrupt end after the three swift dismissals. Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmat Shah were not allowed to score runs unrestricted. In just four overs, Rahmat and Omarzai could only muster 11 runs (12–15). Rahmat scored the first boundary following the powerplay at 15.1 overs. In the 20th over, Azmatullah then tried to raise the scoring rate by smashing a six. Rahmat and Omzarzai scored 23 runs in four overs (20–23) against South African bowling with seeming ease. 

Afghanistan collapse again

After recovering from his injury, Ngidi resumed his attack and ended the 49-run stand in the 24th over. David Miller made a juggling catch at backward point, allowing Ngidi to dismiss Rahmat. Rahmat smashed two fours and scored 26 runs off of 46 balls. In the 27th over, Coetzee returned to attack and had an impact, dismissing Ikram Alikhil. Ngidi defeated veteran Mohammad Nabi in the 28th inning. 

Omarzai smacked four fours in four overs (29–32) and kept scoring runs. In the 34th over, South Africa lost a review after they contested Rashid Khan’s LBW call. Omarzai took 71 balls to reach his half-century in the 37th over. In the 36th over, Phehlukwayo returned to the attack, and in his second over of the innings, the South African all-rounder dismissed Rashid. Phehlukwayo was hit for two fours by Omarzai and Noor Ahmad in the 40th over, resulting in a loss of 11 runs. Noor and Omarzai started to accelerate and scored 19 runs in three overs (42-44). Afghanistan reached a total of 200 in the 46th over. 

Noor was finally dismissed in the same over after playing a crucial knock of 26 runs in 32 balls hitting four fours. Ngidi came back into the attack in the 47th and was welcomed with a four on the first ball of his spell. Mujeeb ur Rahman and Omarzai smashed a six each in the same over as Ngidi conceded 20 runs in the 47th.