Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a brilliant century as Afghanistan set the Proteas a tough target in their second of three ODIs in Sharjah on Friday afternoon.
After their 50 overs, Afghanistan finished on 311/4, setting the South Africans a target of 312.
Temba Bavuma took over the captaincy from Aiden Markram after coming back into the side having missed the first game of the series, which the Proteas lost.
Afghanistan’s opening pair of Gurbaz and Riaz Hassan took the game to the visitors early on, and built a solid partnership at the top of the order.
With Lungi Ngidi, Nandre Burger, Nqaba Peter and Bjorn Fortuin failing to break up the partnership, Aiden Markram was brought on to the attack and made an immediate impact as he trapped Hassan LBW for 29 runs.
Losing Hassan’s wicket did not slow Afghanistan down, however, as Rahmat Shah came to the crease and carried on where his teammate left off.
After reaching his century, Gurbaz innings came to an end when he was bowled by Burger for 105 off 110 balls.
A couple of overs later, Nqaba Peter then bagged his first-ever ODI wicket when he had Shah stumped by Kyle Verreynne after reaching his half century.
After Shah’s dismissal, the Proteas were able to lower the run rate with a number of tidy overs, and Afghanistan eventually finished their innings on 311/4 after their 50 overs.
Scorecard
Afghanistan 311/4: Rahmanullah Gurbaz 105, Azmatullah Omarzai 86*, Aiden Markram 1/20, Lungi Ngidi 1/50
South Africa need 312 runs to win.
IOL Sport