Afghanistan won by 6 wkts against South Africa

Afghanistan won by 6 wkts against South Africa

If by some stroke of good luck they might have sang and danced in the roads of Kabul on Wednesday. Alas, the Taliban have banned singing and dancing in Afghanistan, along with much else that brings joy. Cricket itself could be placed on the long and lengthening rundown of what is illegal in future, assuming reports from that ignorant nation are to be accepted. 

Afghanistan vs South Africa, 1st ODI

Certainly, they were singing and dancing in the stands of Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. And under the joyously buoyant and billowing Afghanistan flag in all its black, red, green and white-peaked magnificence, often fringed with gold tassels. Not the black-and-white depiction of the Shahada prayer, which the Taliban have undermined into the troubling harbinger they have forced as the national flag.

They were singing and dancing long before South Africa crashed to 36/6 - their least score with that many wickets down in all of their 673 men's ODIs - and when they lost their seventh before they had added another rushed to keep their most reduced score in the initial 10 overs. And when they were bowled out for 106, the most minimal total a top-10 ranked team have been excused for in ODIs against Afghanistan.

They sang and danced for Fazalhaq Farooqi, who changed to bowling around the wickets after his most memorable over and found sniping swing to take 4/35. They sang and danced for 18-year-old AM Ghazanfar, who bowled conveyances that far additional accomplished off-spinners would never master to claim 3/20. They sang and danced when Rashid Khan finally got a bowl in the eleventh over, which was scoreless. And when his googly finished the innings by trapping Lungi Ngidi in front midway through the 34th.

The celebrations dulled while Wiaan Mulder gritted through 84 balls for his 52, an innings of significant discipline and management. It was anchored on stands of 39 off 80 with Bjorn Fortuin and 30 off 54 with Nandre Burger, who faced 17 balls for no runs. Mulder arrived in the ninth, at 29/5 after Ghazanfar had finished the eighth by making Jason Smith the twelfth South African to experience a duck on ODI debut with a conveyance that zagged between endlessly pad and tracked down the stumps. Another turner in Ghazanfar's next over had Kyle Verreynne leg-previously, and four balls later Andile Phehlukwayo ran himself out while the Afghans were in the pains of a lbw appeal. A large portion of them, anyway - Gulbadin Naib did the fielding at slip and tossed down the stumps with Phehlukwayo having dawdled out of his ground irresponsibly.

Never in his past five ODIs had Fortuin sat padded up in imminent danger of being summoned to the middle inside 10 overs of the innings. Neither had he been part of the greatest stand of the innings. Both were valid on Wednesday.

For quite a bit of Afghanistan's answer, the cheers appeared to be caught in throats. The pitch, while sound, offered turn and development. In any case, it was slow and the skip was low however consistent. That made batting a task. So knocking off all things being equal small a target was hard work, especially with Ngidi and Burger setting a fine example with the new ball by varying their pace and adhering to stifling lines.

Consequently, a buzzing anxiety prevailed when Rahmanullah Gurbaz slapped the third conveyance of the innings into Smith's hands at profound third. And when Fortuin had a sweeping Rahmat Shah bang in front in the eighth, with only 15 runs scored. Riaz Hassan and Hashmatullah Shahidi eased the tension with a partnership of 23 off 34, and Hashmatullah continued the great work in a work of 22 off 26 with Azmatullah Omarzai. And still, at the end of the day, there was a hesitance to accept.

Surely, with just 47 required off 32 overs and six wickets standing, the watching Afghans realized the game belonged to their team? Maybe, when you've experienced as much as they have, you don't completely accept that it until you see it. They had to wait another eight overs, during which Azmatullah and Gulbadin took charge of what remained of the chase with unshakeable authority in their solid partnership of 47 off 48.

The match was won with a hard-hit single to mid-on by Gulbadin off Phehlukwayo. It was anything but a climax deserving of the occasion, however it will do considering it meant that, this year alone, Afghanistan have beaten six individual ICC full members in the two white-ball formats in 2024. One of them, Ireland - who were elevated to Test-playing status alongside the Afghans in June 2017 - have been dealt with multiple times in six games this year. Be that as it may, this win is more special: Afghanistan's first in quite a while against South Africa.

The Taliban don't merit this Afghanistan team. Because of the Taliban, in the estimation of many, this team don't have the right to play international cricket. Yet, the singers and the dancers merit them - those in the stands at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, and others who without a doubt danced and sang, discreetly, behind shut entryways in Kabul. And in Herat, Mazar-I-Sharif, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Lashkargah, Kunduz, Taloqan, Ghazni