Afghanistan, led by a youthful batter, is in excellent form as they prepare for a major tournament and have just won what may be their greatest series.
Afghanistan made headlines in the cricket world by winning a series for the first time ever in the UAE against South Africa, one of the top five ranked teams in the ICC, in route to the Champions Trophy 2025.
The Blue Tigers bowled out the Proteas for scores of 106 and 134 to win matches one and two convincingly, earning bragging rights for the Sharjah series. They won by six wickets (and with 144 balls remaining) and 177 runs, respectively. Consolatory victories in the third and fourth matches were won by South Africa, who managed to reach a target of only 170.
Afghanistan’s greatest opponent in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) is South Africa, which is rated third. Their 13 bilateral ODI series prior saw matches against Zimbabwe (5), Ireland (4), Scotland (2), Bangladesh (5), and The Netherlands (one each).
An important part of Afghanistan’s legendary march to the Cricket World Cup in 2023, it’s starting to seem like his class is here to stay: Babar Azam (33), Imam-ul-Haq (36) and Hashim Amla (41) were the only three batsmen to register seven ODI hundreds in fewer innings.
Presumably, Rashid Khan, who was back from injury, led the Afghan bowling assault, claiming a series-high seven wickets (averaging seven.00) despite missing the third game due to a strained hamstring.
With an ICC Men’s ODI Team Rankings rating of 82, the Afghans are just behind Bangladesh (86) in ninth place.
Afghanistan will play South Africa once more in their Champions Trophy group starting in mid-February, along with Australia and England.
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