Will South Africa get a solitary win or will Afghanistan white-wash the series?
Afghanistan picked up a historic win in the second ODI against South Africa, which saw them seal the ODI series and are now looking to whitewash the Proteas.
As we gear up for the third and final ODI, here’s our match preview and prediction.
Afghanistan vs South Africa 3rd ODI | South Africa tour of Afghanistan 2024 | 17:30 IST, 22 September 2024
Rahmanullah Gurbaz kicked off the innings in style, with a thunderous century and also laying the platform for the likes of Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai to finish the innings well. Afghanistan put up a strong total of 311/4, with Omarzai’s late hitting propelling them over the 300-run mark.
For the visitors, Temba Bavum and Tony de Zorzi’s 73-run opening partnership was the only promising element in another disappointing batting performance from South Africa. Once Rashid Khan and the young Nangeyalia Kharote got into the attack, the game was all but over as the two spinners picked up nine-wickets between them to bowl out South Africa for 134. The Proteas had no answer to Khan or Kharote’s spin and were caught stuck on the crease or on the backfoot most of the time, which was their eventual undoing.
The Proteas will hope that their spinners, Bjorn Fortuin, Aiden Markram and Nqabayomzi Peter are able to restrict the high-flying Afghani batters while they will expect their big names in Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs to step up. The third ODI will once again be at Sharjah itself and like the second game, there will be opportunity to score early on but once the pitch has 60-70 overs of cricket played on it, it will slow down and grip for the spinners. South Africa have shown nothing this entire series which gives them a chance to pick up one win in the series and expect Afghanistan to clean-sweep the series to pick up a historic series win.
Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Mohammad Nabi, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Rashid Khan, Bjorn Fortuin, Nangeyalia Kharote, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Venue: Sharjah, UAE
Winners Prediction: Afghanistan
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